Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England & Wales, has made some important statements on the priorities for the English Church, and they are not (as the rule-book Catholics would claim), about sexual ethics, the Soho Masses, and unthinking compliance with the Catechism. However, many observers have noted what they describe as a certain historical “independence” of the English bishops, and before the start of the papal visit, the rule-book commentators expressed fervent desires that the Pope would use this opportunity to “correct” the English bishops supposed departure from orthodoxy. So the question then arises,

“Just how far adrift is Archbishop Nichols’ thinking from that of Benedict XVI?”

Answer: Not at all. There is complete agreement between them on the important issues facing the English church - and sexuality, and Soho Masses, are not among them.

In my attempt to answer this question, I examined all the public statements made by the Pope during his visit. Archbishop Nichols has correctly noted that relying on press reports to assess church priorities can give very misleading impressions, so I used instead the transcripts of his public addresses at the Vatican website for the UK visit. These illuminate his concerns both in the nature of the audiences and occasions, and in some specific statements to the UK bishops at the visit’s conclusion.

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Given that the primary purpose of the visit was the beatification of John Henry Newman, and that this is the only beatification he has conducted personally in the five years of his pontificate, Benedict’s views on the Victorian theologian are of fundamental importance - but I leave those for another post. For the rest, these were the themes and priorities that struck me as of greatest importance to him, as shown in his public statements.

First, was a concern for what he and others have described as growing secularisation in the West, and in the UK in particular, as demonstrated by a degree of aggressive atheism, and “hostility to faith communities”, in the words of Huw Edwards, moderating a BBC panel discussion at the conclusion of the visit. Many people, including one of the panellists, interpreted this as an indirect reference to sexual ethics and LGBT equality in particular:

Huw Edwards to put it to Professor MacCulloch that Pope Benedict:

“clearly sees Britain…as a country where there is a lot of growing hostility to faith communities. Is that the right reading?”

Professor MacCulloch replied:

“That is a code, and it’s a code for something quite specific. The code is: now Britain treats gay people as equal with heterosexual people, and gay partnerships are on the statute book, and the Catholic hierarchy hates that fact. You seem them across the world as gay marriages are introduced in country after country…”

But that reading is not supported by anything Benedict said. On the contrary, in his important address to an impressive array of the country’s most eminent public figures, he began by referring to the historical resonances of the venue, where St Thomas More was tried, as indicating the importance of resolving the delicate balance between the demands of secular law for justice and equality, and the importance of respect for moral concerns. This looks like a lead-in to an attack on gay marriage and family equality - but instead, he used as his example of ignoring moral principles - the financial crisis.

And yet the fundamental questions at stake in Thomas More’s trial continue to present themselves in ever-changing terms as new social conditions emerge. Each generation, as it seeks to advance the common good, must ask anew: what are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse. If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy.

The inadequacy of pragmatic, short-term solutions to complex social and ethical problems has been illustrated all too clearly by the recent global financial crisis. There is widespread agreement that the lack of a solid ethical foundation for economic activity has contributed to the grave difficulties now being experienced by millions of people throughout the world.

-Meeting with Representatives of British Society, Westminster Hall

This was a gathering primarily of political and business figures, and so the Pope dwelt also on some specific areas where the Vatican has sought to influence policy in the past - and highlighted work towards world peace and limiting the arms trade; the expansion of democracy and human rights; progress towards development, fair trade and poverty alleviation in poorer countries; and the promotion of environmental responsibility.

This emphasises and expands on Vincent Nichols’ insistence that the Church’s true priority was the fight against poverty. Benedict stated this emphatically:

Where human lives are concerned, time is always short: yet the world has witnessed the vast resources that governments can draw upon to rescue financial institutions deemed “too big to fail”. Surely the integral human development of the world’s peoples is no less important: here is an enterprise, worthy of the world’s attention, that is truly “too big to fail”.

-Meeting with Representatives of British Society, Westminster Hall

Archbishop Nichols’ second priority for the church is the promotion of education. Pope Benedict demonstrated his shared concern with two addresses to gatherings of school teachers and pupils of Catholic schools. Speaking to the pupils, he encouraged them to seek lives of sainthood and virtue, growing in “friendship with God”. Doing so, he said, would enable them to turn away from sinfulness - and the first example he gave of the vices they would thereby avoid were - greed and selfishness.

As you come to know him better, you find you want to reflect something of his infinite goodness in your own life. You are attracted to the practice of virtue. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage, and you want to avoid falling into that trap yourselves. You begin to feel compassion for people in difficulties and you are eager to do something to help them. You want to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry, you want to comfort the sorrowful, you want to be kind and generous. And once these things begin to matter to you, you are well on the way to becoming saints.

-Addresses to the world of education, Sports Arena, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham

Once again, Benedict confirms here the the first concern for Catholics is work against poverty and help for those in difficulties. This could easily have been a convenient occasion to give young people a warning against “homosexuality”, if that had been his intention - but it did not come.

A further recurring theme throughout the visit, and a further significant resonance in the Westminster Hall speech, was an acute consciousness of the history of the English church, and the historic tensions between the Catholic church in England and the English state and the Church of England. Against a backdrop of last year’s controversial outreach to disaffected Anglicans, this topic could have been a disastrous minefield, but instead there appeared to be great sensitivity, and a real desire to see substantial progress towards greater co-operation and possible full communion.

Concluding his visit, Benedict ended with an address to the assembled bishops of England Scotland and Wales which gave a convenient summary of his priorities for the Church:

You have been chosen by God to offer them the living water of the Gospel, encouraging them to place their hopes, not in the vain enticements of this world, but in the firm assurances of the next. As you proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, with its promise of hope for the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected, be sure to present in its fulness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespread assumptions of today’s culture.

Since your visit to Rome, political changes in the United Kingdom have focused attention on the consequences of the financial crisis, which has caused so much hardship to countless individuals and families. The spectre of unemployment is casting its shadow over many people’s lives, and the long-term cost of the ill-advised investment practices of recent times is becoming all too evident. In these circumstances, there will be additional calls on the characteristic generosity of British Catholics, and I know that you will take a lead in calling for solidarity with those in need. The prophetic voice of Christians has an important role in highlighting the needs of the poor and disadvantaged, who can so easily be overlooked in the allocation of limited resources.

Another matter which has received much attention in recent months, and which seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders, is the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests and religious. I have spoken on many occasions of the deep wounds that such behaviour causes, in the victims first and foremost, but also in the relationships of trust that should exist between priests and people, between priests and their bishops, and between the Church authorities and the public.

Finally, I should like to speak to you about two specific matters that affect your episcopal ministry at this time. One is the imminent publication of the new translation of the Roman Missal.

The other matter I touched upon in February with the Bishops of England and Wales, when I asked you to be generous in implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics.

Meeting with Bishops of England Scotland and Wales

Once again, the key themes:

• hope for the poor and the needy;
• the sick and the elderly;
• the unborn and the neglected;
• the financial crisis;
• unemployment;
• the needs of the poor and disadvantaged,

to which he added:

• the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests and religious
• the imminent publication of the new translation of the Roman Missal
• implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

The list is long and comprehensive, but nowhere have I seen any reference to gay marriage, civil partnerships, or the Soho Masses, about which the rule-book bloggers are so convinced that Archbishop Nichols is “undermining” the Pope. Rather, those who are undermining his message are some American bishops and those conservative Catholics who persist in portraying Catholicism primarily as a set of Catechism rules on sexual ethics.

There is much more in the various addresses that I could have elaborated on, especially that of child abuse and the lessons to be drawn from Newman. There may be details I have missed, and I certainly have not absorbed all the subtleties. However, some things are absolutely clear: in general terms, the priorities of the Pope as global head of the Church, and of Archbishop Nichols as the local head for England and Wales, are completely in tune with each other. The urgent practical tasks for Catholics are the fight against poverty, injustice and war, and for dignity respect and equality. Working out best to achieve that requires integrating faith and reason, and growth in spirituality and developing through prayer a personal relationship with God.

How to do that, we can learn from Blessed John Henry Newman.

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