Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has praised the
Government’s Big Society vision as an “opportunity” to build a stronger
society.
His remarks contrast dramatically with those of Dr Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, who said this week that the Big
Society was a “painfully stale slogan”.
Archbishop Nichols told a
conference of Catholic charities yesterday that the Government’s
approach could lead to “greater solidarity” and release “energy for
local initiative and enterprise”.
But he said this could not be achieved by simply the withdrawal of the state.
The
archbishop said: “The risk is that [the Government’s agenda] is
conceived in too mechanistic a way, and argued about solely in terms of
what the state should or should not do, when in fact it is all the
intermediate institutions which give society so much of its shape and
identity, and which draw individuals into a deeper sense of
connectedness with others.”
Archbishop Nichols praised David
Cameron for referring to marriage as an institution that deserves
support. He stressed that family stability and care of the elderly were
crucial areas in which Catholics and Catholic charities could
contribute.
The archbishop made his comments at a conference for Caritas Social Action Network, an umbrella group for Catholic charities in Britain.
He
was speaking after the bishops’ conference announced plans to reform
the network, giving it a stronger national voice and more powers to
co-ordinate Catholic social action.
Last month the bishops asked
the Caritas network “to consult widely in coming months, with dioceses,
Cafod, and with others, to formulate practical recommendations for our
next meeting in November 2011”.
At their meeting the bishops said they would agree on a charter of recommendations for developing Caritas Social Action Network.
On Friday last, Archbishop Nichols said that while the network had “undoubted”
strengths, “voices from the ‘grassroots’ were largely unheard”, and its
support for social action responding to local needs was “patchy”.
He
said: “It seems to be the right time to time to consider developing a
coherent Caritas network, at parish, diocesan and national levels,
focused on social action to promote mutual support and relationships,
and to strengthen national advocacy and a single voice.”