Nichols installed as 11th Archbishop of Westminster

|PIC1|The Most Rev Vincent Gerard Nichols has been installed as the eleventh
Archbishop of Westminster during a Mass of Installation held at Westminster
Cathedral today.

His installation was joined by a congregation of 2,200 specially invited guests, including his predecessor Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady.

Also present were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and priests from the Diocese of Westminster and the Archbishop's former archdiocese, Birmingham.

In his installation homily, the Archbishop called upon the Church to engage in respectful dialogue.

"Respectful dialogue is crucial today. Let us be a society in which we genuinely listen to each other, in which sincere disagreement is not made out to be insult or harassment in which we are prepared to attribute to each other the best and not the worst of motives," he said. "In these matters, we ourselves in the Churches have so much to learn and do."

Dr Williams welcomed the Archbishop to his new role and expressed his desire for the Catholic and Anglican Churches to continue building closer relations.

In recent years, the relations between the churches in this country have become closer and warmer than perhaps ever before," he said. "The fact that the Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops in England have been able to meet more than once for prayer and reflection, as well as for discussion of the challenges we share in witnessing to the Christian faith in our nation, is a welcome development, and a sign that we all recognise common challenges and a need to pray and act together."

The Mass of Installation followed a Service of Solemn Vespers, which was
held at Westminster Cathedral on Wednesday.

The ceremony of the reception and installation was carried out according to the ancient Catholic rite used in similar circumstances for the reception and installation of the Archbishops of Canterbury prior to the Reformation.

At 12.00 noon, to the sound of a specially composed fanfare, Archbishop Vincent Nichols entered Westminster Cathedral by the main West Door, and was greeted by the Provost of Westminster Cathedral, Canon Michael Brockie, before proceding to the high altar where he joined over 150 clergy in the cathedral’s sanctuary.

Archbishop Nichols officiallly took up his new role after Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Letter of Authority, or Papal Mandate, was read aloud by Bishop John Arnold, Chancellor of the Diocese of Westminster, and the formula of installation by the Provost of Westminster Cathedral, Canon Michael Brockie.