Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor

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Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor

Church positions
See	Westminster
Title	Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
Period in office	22 March 2000 — present
Raised to cardinalate	February 2001
Predecessor	Basil Cardinal Hume
Successor	incumbent
Previous post	Bishop of Arundel and Brighton
Personal
Date of birth	24 March, 1932
Place of birth	United Kingdom

Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor (born 24 August 1932 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English prelate, the Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. By virtue of his position, he is the spiritual leader of English and Welsh Catholics. Created cardinal in consistory by Pope John Paul II, he serves as the tenth Archbishop of Westminster. As such his cathedral is Westminster Cathedral in London.

The Archbishop of Westminster is sometimes referred to as the Primate of England and Wales. However, this title traditionally belongs to the Archbishop of Canterbury as "Primate of All England" and the Archbishop of York as "Primate of England". Since the English Reformation these sees belong to the Anglican Church and the title of primate has not been accorded to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

[edit] Biography

Murphy-O'Connor was one of five children of emigrant parents from County Cork in Ireland. Two of his brothers also became priests, one of whom is now deceased, and another brother is a doctor. The youngest brother, John, a regular officer in the Royal Artillery Regiment, died at the age of 32 (for reasons which have never been made clear). Murphy-O' Connor was educated at Prior Park College in Bath, England, then began training for the priesthood in 1950 at the Venerable English College in Rome, Italy. While in Rome, he took a degree in philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University, Rome. He was ordained as a priest in Rome on October 28, 1956. He first worked in parishes in Portsmouth and Fareham.

In 1966 Murphy-O'Connor became private secretary and chaplain to the Bishop of Portsmouth, the (now deceased) Rt Rev. Derek Worlock, later Archbishop of Liverpool. In September 1970, he was appointed parish priest in Portswood, Southampton. Soon afterwards, however, in late 1971, he was appointed Rector of the Venerable English College, Rome, with responsibility for the training of students for the priesthood. As Rector he hosted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Donald Coggan, on his historic visit to Pope Paul VI in 1977.

On December 21, 1977, Murphy-O'Connor was ordained Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. He held important positions among the Roman Catholic Bishops of Europe and has also been consistently influential in ecumenical work; from 1982 to 2000 he was Co-Chairman of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). In 2000 he was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, in recognition of his work for Christian unity.

Styles of Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Westminster

Murphy-O'Connor was installed as Archbishop of Westminster on March 22, 2000, and in November 2000 he was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. In February 2001 he was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, and was assigned the Title of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

As a new Cardinal he was appointed to four Roman Curia organisations: the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, the Pontifical Council for the Study of Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, and the Presidential Committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family. He also sits on the Pontifical Councils for Culture, the Laity, and is currently secretary of the Vox Clara commission which oversees the translating of liturgical texts from Latin into English - all in all an unusually large number of Roman appointments. He was one of the Cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, though it would seem from some press comment that he did not in fact vote for him.

In August 2001, Murphy-O'Connor was created a Freeman of the City of London.

In 2002, in Westminster Abbey he was the first Cardinal to read prayers at an English Royal Funeral Service (for Princess Margaret) since 1509 and later that year, at Sandringham, he became the first Roman Catholic clergyman since 1688 to preach a sermon to the reigning Monarch of Great Britain.

In 2006, it was alleged in the Daily Mail that he had fired his press aide Stephen Noon for being gay, believing that his sexuality was “incompatible” with his position in the Church. As yet, this has not been legally proven in a court of law or tribunal.[1]

In July 2006, his Press Secretary Austen Ivereigh resigned over allegations that a former girlfriend had had an abortion.

In October 2006 Murphy-O'Connor celebrated 50 years of ordination with a Mass in Westminster Cathedral.

On 3 December 2006 His Eminence made a statement in response to the statement made by Prime Minister Tony Blair on World AIDS Day (1 December 2006) in which the Prime Minister said "The danger is if we have a sort of blanket ban from religious hierarchy saying it's wrong to do it, then you discourage people from doing it in circumstances where they need to protect their lives." In response to this the Cardinal said "I think what I would like to say to the prime minister is that it would be much better if he used that money to provide more antiretroviral drugs - medicines - for the millions of children, women who are affected.

"I speak to bishops in Africa and they tell me that their dioceses are flooded with condoms and I said 'Well, has it affected?' They said 'Well, sad to say it has meant more promiscuity and more Aids' [2].

Religious Posts
Preceded by Basil Cardinal Hume	Archbishop of Westminster 2000–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent