The Pope has begun taking soundings in England and Wales for a successor to the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who is expected to retire in 2009.Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will offer his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI in August when he turns 75, as he is required to do by Canon Law.
The Pope is expected to turn it down, as is the norm for an Archbishop in good health who is in good favour in Rome.
But sources have told The Times that the Cardinal is then expected to offer it again a year later, upon which it is likely to be accepted, giving a retirement date of February 2009.
The Cardinal, a keen musician and golfer who is already delegating much of his work to his auxiliary bishops in the Westminster archdiocese, is understood to be keen to go, but only when the time is right.
If Rome is unable to find a successor it thinks worthy of the post, which carries the closest the Roman Catholic Church has to an automatic red hat, the Pope could ask the Cardinal to stay on, health permitting.
Pope Benedict XVI has himself just turned 80, an occasion celebrated by the Cardinal with a Mass at St Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds, in April.
Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, has begun taking soundings among senior lay Catholics as to who should succeed the Cardinal.
Paddy Power, the online bookmaker, has already opened a book, with the Archbishop of Southwark, Kevin McDonald, and the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, joint favourites at 7-2.
A successor could be announced as early as September next year, giving a six-month handover period.
The Cardinal, who trained at the prestigious English College in Rome, moved to Westminster from Arundel and Bright-on in 2000 and was created a cardinal the following year.
The early part of his time at Westminster was shadowed by the paedophile scandals in the Catholic Church.
In response, the Cardinal invited Lord Nolan to chair an independent review on child protection, which led to a new independent office in the Church to oversee the protection of children and vulnerable adults.
The Catholic Church of England and Wales is now believed to have one of the most thorough child-abuse protection programmes in the Church worldwide.
The way the Cardinal handled this media relations nightmare and subsequent events has led to him being highly-regarded in Rome, and England and Wales is not seen as a problem in the way that some provinces are.
His courage in standing up to the Government over the recent gay adoption row, despite being a battle that he lost, also won him admirers in the Vatican.
Nevertheless, there are still concerns among some in the Vatican about the traditional liberalism of the English bishops.
The aura of saintliness around Cardinal Murphy-O’ Connor’s predecessor, the late Basil Hume, was a hard act to follow, but the Cardinal has celebrated milestones of his own.
In January 2002 he became the first member of the Catholic hierarchy since 1680 to preach to an English monarch.
Favourites for Westminster
Vincent Nichols
Odds 7-2, aged 61. Archbishop of Birmingham. Forced the Government to back down on admission quotas for faith schools. Smooth operator. The Roman choice
Kevin McDonald
Odds 7-2, 59. Archbishop of Southwark. His brief is inter-religious dialogue. The clergy’s choice
Aidan Nichols
Odds 6-1, 58. Entered Dominican order at Blackfriars, Oxford, is now John Paul II memorial visiting lecturer at Oxford University. One of the country’s top theologians. The only mark against him could be a lack of pastoral experience. The theologians’ choice
Peter Smith
Odds 12-1, 63. Archbishop of Cardiff. Canon lawyer, graduate of the English College, well-liked by bishops, priests and laity. Known for being a smoker. The people’s choice
Christopher Jamison
Odds 20-1, 55. Photogenic and likeable star of The Monastery on BBC Two. Australian-born Abbot of Worth Abbey, West Sussex. Master of the holy rebuke delivered with a stern smile. The media’s choice
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