Homily given by Cardinal Vincent Nichols for the Mass of Thanksgiving for his Ministry as Archbishop of Westminster, at Westminster Cathedral on 5 February 2026
The opening hymn of our celebration together this evening was very clear: we are to praise the Lord always, for God is our good and merciful Creator, and the giver of all good gifts.
This is the purpose of our Mass of Thanksgiving this evening, and I thank you warmly for coming to give thanks for our life together in this Diocese for the last sixteen years.
Yes, for me this is the moment in which I end these years of service to you all as the bishop entrusted with your care. Archbishop Richard will take on this work of service in a little while, and I know you will welcome him warmly.
For my part, I have so much for which to give thanks.
These years of service have been for me an immense privilege, and I thank you all for the love and support you have given. I thank especially my fellow priests, who have so often responded to the demands made of them with generosity and good humour. Forgive me if I name just a few who have shared most closely in this service: the bishops who have assisted in this — George Stack, Alan Hopes, Bernard Longley, John Arnold, John Sherrington, John Wilson, Paul McAleenan and Jim Curry. I thank the Vicars General who have been alongside me: Seamus O’Boyle and Martin Hayes, and those who have been my Private Secretaries, supporting me through thick and thin: Martin Hayes, John O’Leary and, most of all, Alexander Master for the last ten of these years, in which he has given his all to me and to this diocesan family. There are bonds between us, together with the other members of the Archbishop’s Council and the Diocesan Trustees,
which will endure. But, again, I thank you all for your support and for the great witness of your loving faith in the Lord.
I have so many rich memories which I carry and treasure in my heart.
As a young priest, on my first appointment as chaplain to a Sixth Form College in Lancashire, I remember entering the campus for the first time and meeting a Mr Tony Hylton, a historian. He said, ‘You are most welcome, Father. But you don’t need to be worried about your role here. The faith is in good hands, the hands of the laity. It will endure.’
As a bishop, I have learned how true this is. In parish after parish, in visits and Confirmations and special events, in Diocesan pilgrimages, I have consistently seen the enduring quality of the faith of God’s people in this Diocese: it is such a great gift. I have always found there such encouragement and refreshment, especially in difficult days.
And then I’ve been privileged to play my part in the two visits of a Pope to this country, indeed to this Cathedral: Pope St John Paul II in 1982 and Pope Benedict in 2010. I have seen the love that is in the hearts of so many for the Pastor Pastorum, the Shepherd of the Shepherds, the Bishop of Rome. What wonderful moments they have been, when expressions of our faith have filled the airways and streets, softening the cynical and summoning many to prayer and reflection. It has been my immense joy to play a part in this recent Conclave, the election of Pope Leo, as well as in the Coronation of King Charles and in his State Visit to the Holy See.
My cup runneth over! So much for which to be thankful!
Underlying all these moments, one thing is so clear: in the heart of every person there is a longing for the gift of faith, the gift by which we can shape our lives, by which we can find our way in life in the knowledge and love of our Maker. This faith enables us to serve each other with generosity and bear our burdens, knowing that a final fulfilment in God’s presence awaits us when he calls.
This, then, is our calling: to be like the shining star that brought the Magi to meet and recognise their infant King. May the faith of each one of us be a quiet summons to others, mainly through our way of life, accompanied, when the time is right, with words of invitation, encouragement and explanation. Thus we are always to be a Church in missionary mode and to be so joyfully. I look forward to my part in this journey in the years to come, under the guidance of our new Archbishop, Richard.
Standing at this personal crossroads, I recall the times of great trial, and the failures, that have been part of my journey. I do so with thankfulness for the mercy of God and readily asking for forgiveness. I recall times when weariness has led me to neglect a person or an issue. I recall the faces of those rightly disappointed in my response to them. I recall the pain of the pandemic and the unforgettable image of good people kneeling at the doors of this Cathedral, which remained shut when we needed most of all to be in the Eucharistic presence of the Lord. I will never forget our slow learning of the depth of the trauma of childhood abuse, especially when suffered in our Church, and the painful growth in awareness and responsiveness. I thank all who have led in this journey and who today reach out to such suffering and to that of human trafficking and slavery.
Just recently I was given this lovely quotation from the writings of St Ignatius:
‘Do what you can calmly and gently. Do not be disturbed by the rest, but leave to God’s providence what you cannot manage yourself. God is well pleased with the earnestness and moderate anxiety with which you attend to your obligations. He is not pleased with that anxiety which afflicts the soul, because He wishes our limitations and weaknesses to seek the support of His strength, with trust that in His goodness He will supply what is lacking in our weakness and shortcomings… Keep your soul in peace.’
This I can pray, as can we all, and lean more readily upon God’s mercy and forgiveness.
For me, then, this is a moment of exit, but not the final exit of David of which we read in the first reading. It is also a moment in which I stand at a threshold, just like the disciples in the Gospel passage from St Mark being sent out on their mission. Here there is a new summons for me, a summons to use time more carefully in coming closer to the Lord, to spend more time in his presence now that the demands of this office are lifted. So please pray for me that I may have the radical trust in the Lord that was asked of the disciples as they set out on their new mission. And be sure of my continuing prayers and service for you all, for this beloved Church of Westminster and, of course, for our new Archbishop, as he, in turn, accepts the call of the Lord.
In the words of the hymn after Holy Communion, let us always praise our great and glorious God and call upon his name, today and in the days to come.
Amen.