Archbishop Nichols Tony Blair Lacks Experience of Catholic Life, by Ruth Gledhill, The Times, May 24, 2009

Archbishop Nichols: Tony Blair 'Lacks Experience' of Catholic Life

By Ruth Gledhill
The Times
May 24, 2009

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2009/05/archbishop-nichols-tony-blair-lacks-experience-of-catholic-life.html

Superb interview by Dominic Lawson in today's Sunday Times News Review with the new Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols. It is clear that Archbishop Nichols is going to be a great Catholic leader unafraid to speak his well-considered mind. Lawson begins: 'All things considered, I imagine Archbishop Vincent Nichols would rather a report detailing decades of abuse of Irish children at Catho-lic-run institutions had not been published on the eve of his installation as head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Nichols is the church's most media-savvy operator, but his sure touch seemed to have deserted him last week, when, after an admirably forthright declaration that the abuse was "a scandal" and that those responsible should be prosecuted, he praised the "courage" of those in the church who had "faced these facts from their past "'

As Lawson writes, Archbishop Nichols was himself educated by the Christian Brothers:

'His devoutly Catholic parents, both teachers, had sent him to St Mary's college, a grammar school run by the Christian Brothers that had been designed to provide the best Catholic education to Liverpool's poor Irish diaspora. These same Christian Brothers – or rather those across the Irish Sea – were responsible for much of the savage abuse damned in last week's report. It is easy to see how Nichols's gratitude for what this body of men did for him and others can create a fierce tribal loyalty: "We shouldn't forget that this account today [of abuse] will also overshadow all the good that they also did."

Astonishingly, he reveals he has never met the Queen. I find that extroardinary. Why not? Even at Birmingham where he was one of the most senior RC archbishops he should have come across her in his official or even personal role. Is there some bizarre antiquated protocol that was observed here, the 'way things work' in Britain, or is this just an accident? Buckingham Palace must remedy that urgently.

Lawson goes on to write: 'Last month Blair gave an interview in which he questioned the Pope's line on homosexuality, and said that Catholic leaders should be "rethinking" the issue. What does Nichols think about Blair lecturing the church in this way, so soon after joining?

"I think it was extraordinary. I also think his political instincts, which are very strong, are not a good guide to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and a bit more reflection is needed as to the relationship between political instinct in general – and certainly his – and the nature of the truth that the church tries to put forward . . . Maybe he lacks a bit of experience in Catholic life."

The Archbishop also echoes Rowan Williams' concern in his Times article on the scandal of MPs' expenses, that regulation has replaced virtue in public life, a point he himself had made in an earlier article as well about the danger of a moral vacuum in democracy.

Nichols says to Lawson: "My point was that democracy does not of itself generate moral principle and in democracy at its worst that moral space is filled by those who are the most successful lobbyists. I think that could be illustrated now by the burgeoning of regulation over the past 10 years. Regulation can never replace virtue."

My own response to this interview?

Dear Lord, thank you!