Birmingham could be the destination for that rarest of events – a Papal visit. Some believe that the Pope may come to the city next year to coincide with the possible beatification of Cardinal John Newman.
If that is the case, a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Birmingham would be only the second Papal visit to Britain since Pope John Paul II in 1982.
Peter Jennings, press secretary to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, said the Pope’s speculated visit to the city in 2010 would have a “unifying” effect on the diverse cultures.
Vatican reports suggest the Pope had expressed an interest in visiting Oxford as well as Northern Ireland and Scotland, but may also visit the city to coincide with the beatification of Cardinal John Newman, which is yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Mr Jennings dismissed claims that the Archbishop of Birmingham Vincent Nichols would be too “divisive” to become the nation’s head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The Archbishop is believed to be among a list of successors to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor who is due to announce his retirement next month.
A report in a Sunday paper claimed senior Roman Catholic bishops had written to the nuncio, Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, who is based in London as the Vatican’s ambassador, to make clear their unease at his selection.
“I said that I was uncomfortable with someone who is clearly so ambitious,” one source reportedly said.
Another diocesan bishop accused him of lacking humility, while an MP allegedly slated him as being a “career churchman”.
But Mr Jennings disagreed. He said: “People throughout the Archdiocese of Birmingham know him very well after his last eight years of service. They like his style of doing things, he is open and engages with people and listens carefully to what people say.”
Although he would not comment on whether Archbishop Nichols should become the next head of church, Mr Jennings said: “Archbishop Nichols has great leadership qualities, he is decisive and shows he is prepared to speak out on public issues.
“If people think he is divisive, it’s for them to spell out why.”
Cardinal Newman, founder of the Birmingham Oratory, died in the city in 1980 and was made venerable, the first step towards sainthood, in 1991.
Last October the diocese re-opened his grave in order to move his remains to a shrine at the Birmingham Oratory. But hopes that the cardinal had been buried in a lead-lined coffin proved unfounded and the body had totally decomposed.
Gay-rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, accused the church of “moral vandalism” saying it the move was a deliberate attempt to separate Cardinal Newman from Ambrose St John, a friend he had asked to be buried with.
One verified miracle must be attributed to the cardinal before he can be beatified and a second is needed before he can be sainted.
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(Source: BNT)