Cardinal Nichols on Choosing the Next Pope: "I’m Coming Home"
As the Roman Catholic Church prepares to choose a new leader following the death of Pope Francis, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, has spoken out about his role in the process. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Cardinal Nichols discussed his experiences and thoughts on the forthcoming conclave, where he will join over 100 other cardinals to elect the next pope.
The conclave, a tradition that takes place after a two-week mourning period, will see the College of Cardinals gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast a series of votes to choose the next pope. According to the BBC, theoretically, any baptised man can be elected as pope, but a cardinal is usually picked. There are currently 252 cardinals, with 135 under the age of 80 eligible to vote. Cardinal Nichols, who leads six million Roman Catholics in England and Wales, will be one of them, despite being just months shy of his 80th birthday, the age limit for voting rights.
Cardinal Nichols, who was born in Crosby on the Merseyside coast, has had several high-level meetings with Pope Francis in Rome. He shared two abiding special memories of their interactions with the BBC. "One particularly has never left me," he said. "He said to me: ‘From the moment of my election as Pope, my peace has never left me.’ Despite the pressure of all he has to deal with, he has lived close to God." Cardinal Nichols also fondly recalled their last meeting two years ago, where he gave Pope Francis a book and received a handwritten card and a return gift in response.
When asked about his own prospects of becoming the next pope, Cardinal Nichols was clear: "I’m coming home," he said. "You can be sure of that." He dismissed any suggestion of remaining in the Vatican as the next pope himself. The BBC reported that Cardinal Nichols had "never thought" he would be voting because Pope Francis "didn’t show many signs of slowing down" and appeared to be recovering from double pneumonia.
As the conclave approaches, Cardinal Nichols described the prospect of choosing the next pope as "quite intimidating frankly." He added that he believed the cardinals would do their "best work once the doors of the conclave have been shut," as at that point, there would be "a peace and a prayerfulness between us." He emphasised that the focus should be on discerning the will of God, rather than getting caught up in "political manoeuvring and Paddy Power’s bets and all that."
Following Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, Cardinal Nichols will join his fellow cardinals to vote for the 267th pontiff, who will go on to lead the world’s estimated 1.4 billion Catholics. As the leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, Cardinal Nichols plays a significant role in the process. According to the BBC, he will be part of a group of men trying to discern the will of God, a task he takes very seriously.
In conclusion, Cardinal Nichols’s thoughts on the forthcoming conclave and his role in it provide valuable insight into the process of choosing the next pope. As reported by the BBC, his experiences and reflections on Pope Francis offer a unique perspective on the late pontiff. With the conclave just around the corner, the world waits with bated breath to see who will be chosen as the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The article was sourced from the BBC.
