Archbishop Vincent Nichols has given the 2011 Tablet Lecture, entitled 'Holiness Today: The Formation of the Human Heart'.
In the lecture, given at Westminster Cathedral Hall on Thursday 20 October 2011 Archbishop Nichols examines what is the pathway to faith which allows people to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth. He asks: “How are our hearts to be tutored if we are indeed to walk on this path and grow in the kind of holiness that alone is the foundation of all for which we long in the life and mission of the Church?”
He explores the life and awakening of religious faith of a young Dutch woman, Etty Hillesum, born in 1914. During the Second World War she devoted her life to care for persecuted Jews particularly in the transit camp of Westerbork, where Jews were held for transfer to death in Auschwitz. In 1943 she herself was herded onto the death train, together with her parents and her brother.
In the lecture Archbishop Nichols then looks at how Etty Hillensum’s ’s experience resonates with Blessed John Henry Newman’s insights about our human conscience. Finally, he examines examples of how faith can be nurtured and developed in contemporary society.
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