On Thursday 5 February, a thanksgiving Mass was held for Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ service as Archbishop of Westminster.
In the homily, Cardinal Nichols said, “Standing at this personal crossroads, I recall the times of great trial, and the failures, that have been part of my journey. I do so with thankfulness for the mercy of God and readily asking for forgiveness.
“I will never forget our slow learning of the depth of the trauma of childhood abuse, especially when suffered in our Church, and the painful growth in awareness and responsiveness. I thank all who have led in this journey and who today reach out to such suffering and to that of human trafficking and slavery.”
He paid tribute to the enduring faith of the laity: “In parish after parish, in visits and confirmations and special events, in diocesan pilgrimages, I have consistently seen the enduring quality of the faith of God’s people in this diocese: it is such a great gift. I have always found there such encouragement and refreshment, especially in difficult days.”
Caritas Westminster celebrated Cardinal Nichols’ contribution, noting that he has been a “central figure” in the Church’s efforts to combat human trafficking and that his work in this area, including through a 2014 conference and the opening of Caritas Bakhita House in 2015, has had “a global as well as a local impact”.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, made her oath to King Charles III on 4 February and is presiding over the Church of England General Synod from 9-13 February. She will be installed at Canterbury Cathedral in March.
In her presidential address to the Synod on 10 February, Archbishop Mullally said, “What sort of Archbishop do I feel called to be? As I respond to the call of Christ in this new ministry, I remain rooted in my first calling: to follow Christ, to know him – and to make him known in the world.
“My Christian vocation first led me to become a nurse – then later a priest, then a bishop, and now an archbishop. The theme that has run through of all those chapters of my life has been washing feet, and serving and caring for others.”
She said that in any leadership role, she is committed to “transparency and accountability”: “The way we treat one another, lay and ordained, through our various institutional processes, is vital to the health of our life together in Christ. We have too often failed to recognise or take seriously the abuse of power in all its forms.
“Robust and transparent processes are central to the health of any institution; proper process around appointments; clear guidelines around conduct and good processes for handling concerns, complaints and whistleblowing.
“And nowhere is accountability more imperative than in relation to safeguarding, where in the past we have fallen tragically short. Safeguarding is a fundamental, non-negotiable responsibility, sharpened by our past failings and shaped by the work we still have to do.”
Archbishop Mullally said she is committed to “bringing an approach of seriousness and focussed direction to all matters relating to safeguarding in all contexts in the Church” and that this approach must be trauma-informed, committed to proper independence, and put victims and survivors at its heart.
She expressed gratitude for the work of parish safeguarding officers, diocesan safeguarding professionals and the national safeguarding team, and survivors and victims: “Progress has been made, yet we are anything but complacent.”
“We must be wholly committed to listening to victims and survivors, to independent scrutiny of our safeguarding practices, and to delivering timely and robust trauma-informed processes. We must be willing, always, for light to be shone on our actions and our decisions. We can only begin to rebuild trust and confidence through openness and integrity.
Archbishop Mulllally prayed that the thread running through her time as Archbishop would “be that of nurturing confidence and hope, rooted not in institutions, but in God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.
She said that she was “deeply moved” to be asked to “help the Church love itself more, believing that its best days are still to come”.