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Editorial

A thoroughly Vatican II leader

There was an unexpected echo of President Barack Obama at the heart of Archbishop Vincent Nichols' installation sermon at Westminster Cathedral. Spelling out what he means by calling for "respectful" dialogue in modern society, the archbishop declares: "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 reasoned principles are not constructed as prejudice and in which we are prepared to attribute to each other the best and not the worst of motives." There was a very similar passage in President Obama's address to the "Class of 09" in his speech accepting an honorary doctorate from Notre Dame University, Indiana, this week. Archbishop Nichols' words might be construed as calling for the Catholic Church to be given a fair hearing, whereas Mr Obama was implicitly addressing his critics within the Catholic Church in America who condemn him as pro-abortion (and therefore condemn Notre Dame for honouring him). But Archbishop Nichols goes on to say: "In these matters we ourselves in the Churches have so much to learn and do." This sounds more like an appeal to his fellow Catholics to consider how they themselves engage in public controversy, in which case he is implicitly reinfor­cing Mr Obama's plea for respectful mutual comprehension.

Both archbishop and president are right, not least because minds are rarely changed by stridency, even less by abuse. The archbishop's appeal for respect comes in the sermon not long after he reminds us how St Paul had gone to the Areopagus in Athens to engage with the Greek philosophers. It was an engagement the archbishop wryly admits was not immediately successful, adding: "He struggled to find the language in which the insights and light of Christian faith can be brought into dialogue with the finest minds of his age." That too sounds like an ambition that Archbishop Nichols is modestly setting for himself, and for the Catholic community in England and Wales whose leadership he has now assumed. "St Paul did not seek to impose his beliefs nor exploit anxiety or fear," he continues - sound advice for how the Church should conduct itself in its dialogue with society now. It is by an appeal to reason, and also by living the faith in the service of the common good, that the Church will gain influence. Nor necessarily is the measure of its success solely to be seen in the numbers at Sunday Mass or annual conversion figures.

Appropriately for the occasion, the archbishop's installation sermon is more about setting the tone than about the content of the agenda he wishes to pursue. It foretells an open-minded approach, collaborative, friendly to the secular world but in no doubt where it differs, always accompanied by a deepening spirituality. There is a strong wish in the Catholic community both for leadership and for liberation. An archbishop who listens to the message coming from the grass roots and from the Church's rich array of societies and agencies will understand how to impart focus and energy to these aspirations, which are about service to the common good and the pursuit of equal human dignity, the option for the poor, and social justice nationally and globally (including dealing justly with the whole of Creation). It is a Vatican II Church with a Vatican II agenda, and Vincent Nichols is a thoroughly Vatican II archbishop. The combination could prove highly productive.

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