Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor prepares to tell the Pope he's ready to step down as head of the Catholic Church

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor will fly to Rome on Sunday to tell the Pope that he is ready to step aside as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The Archbishop of Westminster wants Pope Benedict XVI to name his successor in the next three months.

He offered his resignation when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in August last year but the Pontiff asked him to remain in office until the most suitable candidate was found to replace him.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, left, will fly to see Pope Benedict XVI, right, to tell him he is ready to go

After an exhaustive search, a shortlist, or terna, has now been drawn up by Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, the papal nuncio – or ambassador - to Great Britain, who will deliver it in person to the Vatican before Christmas.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is making very few diary appointments after that time, while arrangements are in place for him to retire to a six-bedroom house in Chiswick, west London.

He has been telling acquaintances that he does not think there is long to go before he will be able to step down.

The official purpose of the Cardinal’s visit to Rome is to attend five days of meetings of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, of which he is a member.

But he has an appointment for a private audience with the Pope on Thursday.

A spokesman for the cardinal said yesterday that it was highly likely that the subject of the succession would 'come up', but refused to speculate on what might be said.

But with a shortlist drawn up and the Cardinal keen to hand over the responsibility of his office to a younger man, it is widely expected that he will press the Pope to draw up a timetable so that the next Archbishop of Westminster can be installed at Easter.

He will become the first cardinal to retire since penal laws against Catholics were abolished in the 19th century.

All of his predecessors have died in office.

The 76-year-old cleric will continue to serve on Vatican committees and will be able to vote in conclave to elect popes until he turns 80.

He is also considering working as an adviser to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the organisation set up by the former Prime Minister in June to advance dialogue between different religions.

The contents of the shortlist are bound by 'pontifical secret' but sources close to the Archdiocese of Westminster have suggested that the names on the terna include Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Birmingham; Peter Smith, the Archbishop of Cardiff, and Malcolm McMahon, the Bishop of Nottingham.

It is rumoured that the Cardinal personally favours Bishop McMahon, a Londoner and a former engineer, who, like himself, is enthusiastic about forging close relations with Anglican and other Christian churches.

However, the papal nuncio, who main job is to advise the Pope on the appointment of bishops, is said to prefer the Battersea-born Archbishop Smith, 65, a straight-talking canon lawyer who has led Church campaigns against euthanasia, easier abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

'The nuncio is pushing Smith,' said a source close to the Vatican. 'If he is pushing him, it will be the case that Smith will be at the top of the shortlist.'

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power this week slashed the odds on Archbishop Smith from 16/1 to 4/1 while Archbishop Nichols, 63, a protégé of Cardinal Basil Hume, remains 13/8 favourite. Bishop McMahon, 59, is the outsider at 10/1.

The terna will first be submitted to the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops who will begin the process of choosing just one name to present to the 81-year-old Pontiff.

If the Pope agrees the nomination, the nuncio will then ask the preferred candidate if he is willing to accept the position. If the candidate assents the appointment will be made public.

However, if the Pope is unhappy with the choice, the search for a new archbishop will begin afresh.

Vatican officials have indicated that this is unlikely, however, as the Pope 'is not in a very intervening mood at the moment'.
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(Source: DM)