New Catholic Cardinal Renews Attack on 'Disgraceful' UK Austerity Cuts

The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said the
government's crackdown on benefit cheats was disproportionate
as only 1% of the welfare budget went on fraudulent claims.

THE GUARDIAN: Roman Catholic archbishop Vincent Nichols, who is to be made a cardinal by Pope Francis, inundated with messages of support

The leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales says he has been inundated with messages of support after branding the government's austerity programme a disgrace for leaving so many people in destitution.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme to mark his imminent appointment as a cardinal by Pope Francis, Archbishop Vincent Nichols expanded upon his comments to the Telegraph when he criticised the government's welfare reforms as "punitive".

"The voices that I hear express anger and despair … Something is going seriously wrong when, in a country as affluent as ours, people are left in that destitute situation and depend solely on the handouts of the charity of food banks," Nichols said. » | Matthew Weaver | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Catholic Leader Brands Immigration Policies 'Inhumane'

Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The most senior Catholic cleric in England and Wales criticised the Government for being "inhuman[e]" in their pursuit of immigration targets.

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales labelled the Government’s immigration policies which prevent families from living together in Britain “inhumane”.

Vincent Nicholas, the archbishop of Westminster, said rules which prevent foreign spouses of UK citizens moving here would blight the lives of thousands of British children.

He called on the Government to rethink the legislation which came into force in 2012 which prevents people from outside the European Union settling in the UK with their British husband or wife unless they can show an annual income of at least £18,600.

Writing in the Guardian, Nichols said: "Anyone truly concerned for the family as the building block of society, and realistic about the mobility of British people today, must see both the folly of this policy and how it is an affront to the status of British citizenship. » | Miranda Prynne, News Reporter | Monday, December 16, 2013

We Must Protect True Meaning of Marriage, Says Roman Catholic Leader

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The true meaning of marriage is in danger of being lost under David Cameron’s plans to extend it to same-sex couples, the leader of five million Roman Catholics in England and Wales will warn this weekend.

Redefining marriage to include homosexuals would be a “profoundly radical step” stripping it of its “distinctive nature”, the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, will say.

The warning, the most significant intervention yet into the debate on gay marriage, is in a letter to be read from the pulpit in 2,500 churches during Mass this Sunday. It has been seen by The Daily Telegraph as the Government prepares to announce the terms of a national consultation on a proposed change to the law on marriage.

The last time the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church intervened on a political issue, during the threat to impose quotas on faith schools in 2007, ministers climbed down within days.

Significantly, the letter, co-signed by the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Reverend Peter Smith, adopts a strikingly moderate tone, in contrast with that of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, who accused the Coalition of a “grotesque subversion” at the weekend.

As well as setting out Church teaching, it appeals to wider society, arguing that marriage is a “natural institution” with a meaning understood far beyond the confines of the religion. It says that extending it to same-sex couples would reduce marriage to a vague commitment between two people. The archbishops argue that marriage between a man and a woman is “at the foundation of our society”, but also praise the “remarkable example of courage and fidelity” displayed by many who have suffered marital breakdown. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Monday, March 05, 2012

Gobbledydygook from a Roman Catholic Cardinal! Can You Really Understand This Message?
Photo of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Conner courtesy of the BBC
BBC: The Archbishop of Westminster has urged Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with "deep esteem".

Believers may be partly responsible for the decline in faith by losing sense of the mystery and treating God as a "fact in the world", he said in a lecture.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor called for more understanding and appreciation between believers and non-believers.

The leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales said that a "hidden God" was active in everyone's life.

The Cardinal's lecture at Westminster Cathedral comes after a spate of public clashes over issues such as stem-cell research, gay adoption and faith schools.

Mystery of God

He expressed concern about the increasing unpopularity of the Christian voice in public life, saying: "Our life together in Britain cannot be a God-free zone and we must not allow Britain to become a world devoid of religious faith and its powerful contribution to the common good."

Last year, he complained of a "new secularist intolerance of religion" and the state's "increasing acceptance" of anti-religious views.

To stem this tide, he said Christians must understand they have something in common with those who do not believe.

God is not a "fact in the world" as though God could be treated as "one thing among other things to be empirically investigated" and affirmed or denied on the "basis of observation", said Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor.

"If Christians really believed in the mystery of God, we would realise that proper talk about God is always difficult, always tentative.

"I want to encourage people of faith to regard those without faith with deep esteem because the hidden God is active in their lives as well as in the lives of those who believe." 'Respect Atheists', Says Cardinal >>> | May 9, 2008

THE GUARDIAN:
Cardinal Says Britain Must Not Be a 'God-free Zone' >>> By Riazat Butt | May 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)