I cannot believe I missed this particular aticle, even if I am aware that I have only skimmed the material out there during and after the Holy Father's triumph in the UK... and will continue to post anything I find interesting or informative even long after the event....
Hyde Park vigil was ‘beyond words’,
says Archbishop Nichols
By Nibin Thomas
1 October 2010
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has said the silence of 80,000 people praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament at Hyde Park was “something beyond words”.
The Archbishop said in a video reflection: “I can never forget that sense of 80-90,000 people in total silence in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in Hyde Park. It was something beyond words – the fruit of a lot of prayer and a moment of profound grace. It shows the beauty of holiness.”
He also said that “heart did speak to heart” during the four days of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to Britain.
Archbishop Nichols described as a privilege his own journey in the popemobile with the Pope though the streets of London, and feeling engulfed by the “wave of joy and happiness” that greeted the Pope.
The Archbishop, in particular, emphasised a sentence from the Pope’s speech at Westminster Cathedral.
“He said to us: ‘Be witnesses to the beauty of holiness, the splendour of the truth and the joy and freedom born of a relationship with Christ’. That’s the sentence I suggest we ponder as a great gift from the Holy Father.”
Archbishop Nichols encouraged Catholics to learn how to talk about their faith through the example of the Holy Father. He asked them to be gentle and respectful in their dealings with others, especially those who do not share similar views, and admiring their achievements instead of pointing out errors.
He said that the Pope had drawn attention to the crucifix at Westminster Cathedral during his visit because that was where real joy and happiness came from.
He said: “Where does joy and happiness come from? Not because we are innocent, not because we are clever, but because we are forgiven.”
The Archbishop invited Catholics to be more confident in their faith. He said: “Let it show. Wish people ‘God Bless’ at the end of a conversation. Offer to pray for them – especially if they’re having a hard time, and don’t be afraid to use the signs of faith like a simple sign of the Cross at home at the beginning and end of the day with those you live with – those in your family.”
A few days later, Archbishop Nichols spoke of the sex abuse scandal in the Church and used a metaphor in the lay world that ought to resonate....
Archbishop Nichols:
'Paedophile scandal is like the banking crisis:
Sins of the few are attributed to entire system'
By Steve Doughty
6th October 2010
England's Roman Catholic leader has compared his Church’s paedophile scandal with the banking collapse that led to the recession.
Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols linked the behaviour of abusive priests with that of the City traders whose unrestrained lending threw the financial world into crisis.
The comparison astonished an audience during a question and answer session at Mansion House in London.
It also focused fresh attention on the Church’s long-running embarrassment over child abuse which many of the archbishop’s colleagues had hoped may have been put to rest by the Pope’s visit to Britain last month.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed his ‘deep sorrow’ for the ‘unspeakable crimes’ of child abuse within the Roman Catholic Church’.
Paedophile clerics worldwide are estimated to have raped around 3,000 children over the past 50 years, but their crimes were habitually covered up by Church authorities.
The archbishop told an audience including bankers and Labour MP Frank Field, an adviser on poverty to the Coalition, that
the bad actions of a small minority will often command the attention of the public.
Replying to a suggestion that a few badly-mismanaged banks had tarnished the reputation of the City, he suggested that the good works of the majority are overshadowed by the misbehaviour of the few.
‘That’s what sticks, that’s what you have to deal with,’ the archbishop said.
His remarks raised eyebrows among senior bankers. The
Financial Times said in a commentary that ‘you could just about see his point’, but added:
‘Is it really an appropriate comparison to make?’[Why ever not? Sin is sin. Why should sex abuse on a child be considered 'worse' than ethical abuse that leads to the financial ruin of thousands if not millions of people, a ruin that can even lead to suicides? In both cases, the ynderlyign drive is lust - carnal lust, in one case; unbridled lust for wealth and power, in teh other!]
His decision to raise the scandal follows a decade of widely-praised efforts by Catholic leaders in England to set up new administrative systems to ensure there could be no further tolerance of paedophile priests.
[To those who can read, Caritas in veritate was a condemnation of all the unethical financial practices that inevitably bring on a crisis like the one we have had since 2007!]
The archbishop’s comparison also amounted to a stronger condemnation of the behaviour of the City than that made by Pope Benedict during his state visit.
The Pope said the financial crisis was a result of moral failure, but kept his condemnation of paedophile priests entirely separate.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/10/2010 22:07]