Two sides of Cardinal Nichols

04 February 2026, The Tablet

Topic of the week – Two sides of Cardinal Nichols

The Vincent Nichols portrayed by Bess Twiston Davies’ sure brushstrokes triggers both admiration and disquiet (“Simply Vincent”, 31 January).

Nichols the Christian compels because wide-hearted. I find it easy to become a Christian who focuses on the structural to the exclusion of the micro-personal – or vice versa. Nichols, however, encompasses both. In founding and driving the Santa Marta Group he has significantly challenged human trafficking, sexual exploitation and modern slavery at a global level.

And the international fixer is also attuned to the needs-in-the-moment of the individual in front of him: the woman living with the legacy of sexual exploitation or the man now wheelchair-bound.

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