Bishops must be servants, cardinal says

CARDINAL VINCENT Nichols told bishops to reject power during a ceremony to ordain the new Bishop of Brentwood, Alan Williams, on Tuesday, writes Liz Dodd.

Echoing Pope Francis, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster said that bishops should be servants of their congregations. Outlining bishops’ three priorities – which he said were prayer, servanthood and the Word of God – Cardinal Nichols told the congregation at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Helen: “In a bishop, said Pope Francis, there can be ‘no psychology of princes’. He is always to be a servant.” Cardinal Nichols called on bishops to be voices “of the truth of our faith in the public arenas of our society” and thanked the outgoing Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon, for his 34 years of service. The bishop-­emeritus, who was co-consecrator at the new bishop’s ordination along with the Bishop of Menevia, Tom Burns, tendered his resignation three years ago, aged 75.

“May the years ahead be peaceful and prayerful, for you deserve the peace and we need the prayers,” Cardinal Nichols said. Bishop Williams is a Marist priest and former director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

n During the ordination of three priests at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, Cardinal Nichols told priests to eschew wealth that “dulled the heart”. “Affluence robs us of the docility of soul which alone creates space for the presence of the living God,” he said.