The Most Reverend Vincent Gerard Nichols officially become the 11th Archbishop of Westminster at around 12.15 pm after the reading aloud of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter of Authority, or Papal Mandate, by Bishop John Arnold, Chancellor of the Diocese of Westminster, and the formula of Installation by the Provost of Westminster Cathedral, Canon Michael Brockie.
The Archbishop-Emeritus, His Eminence Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor then presented the new Archbishop with the Crozier, the bishop’s staff, symbolic of his office as bishop. The Provost and Canons of the Metropolitan Chapter then greeted the new Archbishop, followed by other representatives of the Diocesan clergy, ethnic chaplaincies, pastoral and administrative bodies.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, then greeted Archbishop Nichols on behalf of the co-presidents of Churches Together in England.
Taking the figure of St Paul (whose conversion on the road to Damascus is described in the readings of the Scriptures during the mass) as the starting point for the homily, Archbishop Nichols focused on three central themes:
(1) The need for and relevance of faith in God as it opens us up to what lies beyond and everyone’s inner life is crucial for their wellbeing.
(2) The Church builds communities and brings social cohesion as faith requires a public dimension.
(3) Faith and reason complement each other. In the words of Pope John Paul II ‘Faith and reason are the two wings on which the human spirit soars’.
