Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Leadership, Formation, and the Crisis of Catholic Witness in England and Wales

Did you see this amazing homily from a priest in New York directly dressing down Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster?

It seems like the mask is finally slipping perhaps? But many of us have long known that Nichols is a deeply problematic character.

Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has occupied the foremost position within the English Catholic hierarchy for more than a decade. Created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014, Nichols is a figure of considerable influence in both the national and international Church. Yet his tenure has generated sustained criticism amongst faithful Catholics, who see his leadership as emblematic of a broader malaise within the post-conciliar Church: an over-reliance on administrative management, an instinct for political accommodation, and a reluctance to assert doctrinal clarity in a culture increasingly hostile to Christian moral teaching.