Basil Cardinal Hume
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Church positions | |
| See | Westminster |
| Title | Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster |
| Period in office | March 25, 1976—June 17, 1999 |
| Raised to cardinalate | May 24, 1976 |
| Predecessor | John Carmel Heenan |
| Successor | Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor |
| Previous post | Abbot of Saint Lawrence Abbey |
| Personal | |
| Date of birth | March 2, 1923 |
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
His Eminence George Basil Cardinal Hume OSB, OM (March 2, 1923—June 17, 1999) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales from 1979 until his death. Hume was elevated to the cardinalate in 1976.
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[edit] Early life and ministry
George Haliburton Hume was born in Newcastle upon Tyne to Sir William Elrington and Maria Elizabeth (née Tisserye) Hume. His father was a Protestant heart surgeon from Scotland, and his mother the French Catholic daughter of an army officer. He had three sisters and one brother.
Hume initially contemplated joining the Dominicans, but instead became a novice at the Benedictine monastery at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire. He took the name Basil upon his solemn profession in 1945.
After studying at Ampleforth, Hume went on to attend St. Benet's Hall in Oxford, and the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
He was ordained a priest on July 23, 1950. Returning to Ampleforth to teach modern languages, he became its abbot in 1963.
[edit] Episcopacy
On February 9, 1976, Hume was appointed Archbishop of Westminster, the ranking prelate in England and Wales, by Pope Paul VI. He was not an obvious choice for Archbishop as he had no experience running a diocese, and as the first monk to hold the post since the 1850 restoration of the English hierarchy, he was seen to be something of an outsider. Receiving news of the appointment during dinner, Hume later remarked, "I must confess I did not enjoy the rest of the meal"[1].
Hume received his episcopal consecration on the following March 25 from Archbishop Bruno Heim, with Bishops Basil Butler, OSB, and John McClean serving as co-consecrators, in Westminster Cathedral.
He was created Cardinal Priest of S. Silvestri in Capite by Paul VI in the consistory of May 24, 1976, and was one of the cardinal electors in the conclaves of August and October 1978.
During the weeks leading to the latter conclave, which surprisingly selected the non-Italian Karol Cardinal Wojtyła, Hume was considered papabile, or likely to be elected pope. He is still regarded by many as having been the strongest English contender for the papacy in recent history.
Cardinal Hume's time in office saw Catholicism become more accepted in British society than it had been for 400 years, culminating in the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Cathedral in 1995. He had previously read the Epistle at the installation ceremony of Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury in 1980. It was also during his tenure in Westminster that Pope John Paul II made a groundbreaking visit to England.
| Styles of Cardinal Basil Hume, OSB |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Westminster |
Hume even visited the cenotaph in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland with Diana, Princess of Wales and led the prayers on Remembrance Day in 1988, which was the site of the infamous IRA bombing which killed 11 Protestants a year earlier. This was the ecclesiastical territory of the then Irish Primate Tomás Cardinal O'Fiaich, who was staunch republican and refused to visit the cenotaph or attend Remembrance Day ceremonies.
In 1998, Hume asked John Paul II for permission to retire, expressing the wish to return to Ampleforth and devote his last years to peace and solitude, fly fishing and following his beloved Newcastle United Football Club The request was refused.
He was diagnosed with inoperable abdominal cancer in April 1999. On June 2 of that same year, Queen Elizabeth awarded him the Order of Merit. He died just over two weeks later in London, at age 76. After a funeral service broadcasted live on national television, he was buried in Westminster Cathedral. John Paul II, in his message of condolence to the Church in England and Wales, praised Hume as a "shepherd of great spiritual and moral character"[2].
Hume was seen as moderate in his theological positions, trying to please both liberals and conservatives[3]. While condemning homosexual acts, for instance, he accepted the validity of love between gay people[4]. Moreover, he was opposed to women priests[5] but described most detractors of Humanae Vitae as "good, conscientious and faithful"[6].
Hume's success as Archbishop of Westminster—he was regularly named Britain's most popular religious figure in opinion polls—was attributed by some to the great humility and warmth with which he treated everyone he met, regardless of their religion or background.
[edit] Legacy
- A statue of Cardinal Hume was erected in his home town of Newcastle and unveiled by the Queen in 2002.
- The Cardinal Hume Rose is named after him.
- The Cardinal Hume Catholic School is currently (as of March 2006) under construction in Wrekenton, part of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
[edit] Trivia
- He was a lifelong fan of jogging, squash and the Newcastle United F.C.[7] [8]
- Hume was the last Archbishop of Westminster to employ a Gentiluomo. The Gentiluomo was a form of ceremonial bodyguard who accompanied the Archbishop at formal occasions. As the role had become archaic, no new Gentiluomo was appointed after the death of Hume's Gentiluomo, Monsignor Canon Anthony Bartlett, OBE, in 2001.
| Religious Posts | ||
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| Preceded by John Carmel Heenan |
Archbishop of Westminster 1976–1999 |
Succeeded by Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor |
[edit] References
- ^ Time Magazine. Jogger's Progress March 1, 1976
- ^ BBC News. Pope's Tribute to Hume - full text June 25, 1999
- ^ Archdiocese of Westminster. Cardinal George Basil Hume January 11, 2005
- ^ BBC News. Basil Hume: From Monk to Cardinal June 25, 1999
- ^ Time Asia. Milestones June 28, 1999
- ^ Time Magazine. Milestones June 28, 1999
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Time Magazine. Jogger's Progress March 1, 1976
[edit] See also
Anthony Howard, Basil Hume, the monk cardinal, Headline, 2005 (ISBN 0-7553-1247-3).
