Cormac Murphy-O'Connor

His Eminence  Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
See	Titular Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Appointed	21 February, 2001
Enthroned	20 October, 2001
Predecessor	Anastasio Ballestrero
Orders
Ordination	28 October, 1956 by Valerio Valeri
Consecration	21 December 1977 by Michael George Bowen
Created Cardinal	21 February, 2001
Personal details
Birth name	Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Born	24 August 1932 (1932-08-24) (age 79) [1] Reading, Berkshire, England [1]
Nationality	British
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Residence	Private - to contact the cardinal's PA please see the RCDOW website contact us page.
Parents	Dr. George and Ellen Murphy-O'Connor
Previous post	Bishop of Arundel and Brighton (1977-2000) Archbishop of Westminster (2000 - 2009)
Motto	Gaudium et Spes
Coat of arms

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (born 24 August 1932) is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church,^[1] Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster and former President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the 2001 Consistory. He submitted his resignation upon reaching his 75th birthday, and it was accepted on 3 April 2009 when Pope Benedict appointed Vincent Nichols as the new archbishop.^[2]

By virtue of his position as Archbishop of Westminster, he was sometimes referred to as the Catholic Primate of England and Wales. However, though the holders, within the Church of England, of the posts of Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of York are called the "Primate of All England" and "Primate of England", the title of primate has not been accorded to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Early life

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was born in Reading, Berkshire, the fifth son of George and Ellen Murphy-O'Connor (d.1971), who emigrated from County Cork in Ireland before World War I and married in 1921.^[3] Two of his uncles, one aunt, two cousins, and two of his brothers, Brian and Patrick, also entered religion. His youngest brother, John, was a regular officer in the Royal Artillery who died at age 32 for reasons which have never been clarified; he has two other siblings, James (a doctor and rugby player) and Catherine. After attending Presentation College in Reading, and Prior Park College in Bath, Murphy-O'Connor then began his studies for the priesthood in 1950 at the Venerable English College in Rome, where he received a degree in theology. Thereafter, he earned a licentiate in philosophy and a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained on 28 October 1956, by Valerio Cardinal Valeri. For the next decade he did pastoral work in Portsmouth and Fareham.^[1]

Church career

Parish priest

In 1966, Murphy-O'Connor became the private secretary to Bishop Derek Worlock of Portsmouth. In September 1970, he was appointed parish priest of the Immaculate Conception church in Portswood, Southampton. Soon afterwards, in late 1971, he was appointed rector of the Venerable English College,^[1] his alma mater. As rector he hosted the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Donald Coggan, on his historic visit to Pope Paul VI in 1977. He was elevated to the rank of Monsignor on 10 March 1972.

Bishop

On 17 November 1977, Murphy-O'Connor was named Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 21 December from Bishop Michael Bowen, with Archbishop George Dwyer and Bishop Anthony Emery serving as co-consecrators. He held important positions among the Roman bishops of Europe and has also been consistently influential in ecumenical work; from 1982 to 2000 he was Co-Chairman of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). In 2000 he was awarded a Lambeth degree Doctorate in Divinity by then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, in recognition of his work for Christian unity.

Cardinal-Archbishop

His Eminence  Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
Province	Westminster
See	Westminster
Enthroned	22 March, 2000
Reign ended	3 April, 2009 (retired)
Predecessor	Basil Hume
Successor	Vincent Nichols

Styles of Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Westminster

Murphy-O'Connor was appointed the tenth Archbishop of Westminster, and thus head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, on 15 February 2000, and in November of that year he was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

In the consistory of 21 February 2001, he was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva by Pope John Paul II.

As a new cardinal he was appointed to four Curial organisations: the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, the Pontifical Council for the Study of Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, and the Pontifical Council for the Family. He also sits on the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Laity, and is currently secretary of the Vox Clara commission which oversees the translating of liturgical texts from Latin into English – all in all an unusually large number of Curial appointments. He will remain active in these positions until his 80th birthday in 2012.

In August 2001, Murphy-O'Connor was created a Freeman of the City of London.

In 2002, in Westminster Abbey he was the first cardinal to read prayers at an English Royal Funeral Service (for the Queen Mother) since 1509. In 2002 he had his portrait painted for Westminster Cathedral by the artist Christian Furr.^[4] He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

On 28 October 2006, Murphy-O'Connor celebrated 50 years of ordination with a Jubilee Mass in Westminster Cathedral.^[5]

Retirement

Shortly before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Murphy-O'Connor submitted his resignation as Archbishop of Westminster to Pope Benedict XVI, who asked that Murphy-O'Connor remain in his position "until he chooses otherwise". Murphy-O'Connor said in a subsequent letter to his clergy, "I am very content to accept the Holy Father’s request."^[6] On 3 April 2009, Pope Benedict appointed Vincent Nichols as Murphy-O'Connor's replacement. Thus, since all of Murphy O'Connor's predecessors died in office, he is the first to become Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster. He now lives in semi-retirement in Duke's Avenue, Chiswick, London. He remains an active member of various offices in the Roman Curia and will hold these positions until his 80th birthday.

On 30 October 2009, in addition to his other duties in Rome, Pope Benedict appointed Murphy-O'Connor as a member of the Congregation for Bishops, where he will serve until his 80th birthday. It is unusual to receive such an appointment after his retirement.^[7][8]

In June 2010, after the Ryan Report and Murphy Report on the abuses by the Catholic Church in Ireland, Murphy-O'Connor was named along with others to oversee the apostolic visitation of certain dioceses and semanaries. Murphy-O'Connor was named to as the Visitor to the Diocese of Armagh and its suffragan sees. He will report back to the Holy See on what steps have been taken since the reports where issued, and what else needs to happen.

Views

Abuse scandal

Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in Arundel and Brighton diocese

Murphy-O'Connor found himself subject to public scrutiny regarding a priest in his diocese when he was Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. During this time it was brought to his attention that a priest, Michael Hill, was a child sexual abuser. In 2000, when O'Connor became Archbishop of Westminster, the case became known to the general public.^[9]

Employment issues

In 2006, it was alleged in the Daily Mail that Murphy-O'Connor had fired his press aide Stephen Noon for being gay, believing that Noon's sexuality was “incompatible” with his position in the Church. As yet, this has not been tested in a court of law or tribunal.^[10]

Response to Summorum Pontificum

In November 2007, Murphy-O'Connor issued a letter to the clergy of his diocese regarding Pope Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum relaxing of the restrictions on the use of the 1962 Roman Missal. Some interpreted the letter as contradicting the motu proprio's assigning to the rectors of churches the right to grant the required permission for public celebration of Mass according to that final version of the Tridentine Mass.

Damian Thompson, the editor of the Catholic Herald, commented that Murphy-O'Connor "begins by announcing that the Pope's purpose in removing restrictions on the Tridentine Mass was 'to restore unity within the Church – both to enable those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity and to offer those who have not yet accepted the liturgical reforms and teachings of the Second Vatican Council a way back to full communion with the Church.'"^{[citation needed]} And in his blog What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fr. John Zuhlsdorf said that Murphy-O'Connor's comments constituted "a horribly narrow and inaccurate way of reading the Holy Father’s provisions", and claimed that a comment by Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, that "some dioceses, even interpretative documents which inexplicably aim at putting limits on the Pope’s Motu Proprio" are motivated by "pride, one of the gravest sins", was a response to documents such as Murphy-O'Connor's.^[11]

AIDS prevention

Main article: Religion and AIDS

On 3 December 2006, Murphy-O'Connor issued a response to a statement made by Prime Minister Tony Blair on World AIDS Day (1 December 2006) in which Blair said, "The danger is if we have a sort of blanket ban from religious hierarchy saying it's wrong to do it, then you discourage people from doing it in circumstances where they need to protect their lives." In response to this Murphy-O'Connor said, "I think what I would like to say to the prime minister is that it would be much better if he used that money to provide more antiretroviral drugs – medicines – for the millions of children, women who are affected. I speak to bishops in Africa and they tell me that their dioceses are flooded with condoms and I said, 'Well, has it affected?' They said, 'Well, sad to say it has meant more promiscuity and more AIDS'".^[12]

Illegal immigrants

On 7 May 2007, Murphy-O'Connor addressed a crowd of illegal immigrants in Trafalgar Square in support of the Strangers into Citizens campaign, which is calling for a path into citizenship for undocumented workers. Previously he had commissioned major research on the pastoral challenges of migrants in his parishes and this had been published to front page coverage in The Times and leader coverage internationally as The Ground of Justice written by Francis Davis and Jolanta Stankeviciute who are now based at the Las Casas Institute, Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.^[13]

Gay adoption

In early 2007 Murphy-O'Connor sent a letter to Blair over the impending regulations that the rights of gay couples extend to an equal opportunity relating to adoption. He said that the law would force people to "act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences" with regard to Catholic adoption agencies and requested an exemption from the law. The Cardinal continued, saying, "We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the government to insist that if they wish to continue to work with local authorities, Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences by being obliged in law to provide such a service."^[14]

Family planning

Murphy-O’Connor has denounced contraception and abortion many times. In February 2008 he sacked the board of St John and St Elizabeth’s, a partly NHS funded Catholic hospital, after it had permitted a GP’s surgery to move onto the site and administer family planning.^[15]

Embryo Bill

In March 2008 Murphy-O'Connor joined Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien of Scotland in opposing the Government's proposed Embryology Bill. The Government had instructed its MPs to vote for the bill which angered some Catholic members, Murphy-O'Connor said "Certainly, there are some aspects of this bill on which I believe there ought to be a free vote, because Catholics and others will want to vote according to their conscience." The Government gave in to the pressure and promised to allow MPs a free vote.^[16]

Atheism

Murphy-O'Connor has urged Christians to treat atheists and agnostics with deep esteem, "because the hidden God is active in their lives as well as in the lives of those who believe".^[17]

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor: recession may be jolt that selfish Britain needs
2. ^ Miranda, Salvador. "Cormac Murphy-O'Connor". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios-m.htm#Murphy. Retrieved 9 April 2009. 
3. ^ Compass - ABC TV Religion | Stories
4. ^ Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor Westminster Cathedral by Christian Furr^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "50 Years of Priesthood". Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 30 October 2006. http://www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/default.asp?library_ref=1&content_ref=1035. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
6. ^ The Holy Father invites Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor to continue in his present pastoral ministry
7. ^ "Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's new appointments in Rome". Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. 30 October 2009. http://www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/default.asp?library_ref=1&content_ref=2520. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
8. ^ "Press Office of the Holy See". Press Office of the Holy See. 30 October 2009. http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/24581.php?index=24581&po_date=30.10.2009&lang=en. Retrieved 2009-10-30. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ BBC Radio 4 Today programme
10. ^ Gay group slams “sickening hypocrisy” of Cardinal
11. ^ What Does The Prayer Really Say?»Blog Archive » Interview with Archbp. Ranjith: those who resist Summorum Pontificum guilty of the sin of pride
12. ^ Whispers in the Loggia: Urbi et Orbi, TB Edition
13. ^ Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford page
14. ^ Tempest, Matthew (23 January 2007). "No 10 mulls Catholic opt-out from gay rights law". The Guardian (London). http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,1996788,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=9. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
15. ^ Archbishop orders Catholic hospital board to resign in ethics dispute
16. ^ Cardinal adds to pressure for free vote over embryo bill - politics.co.uk
17. ^ BBC News, 9 May 2008

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Michael George Bowen	Bishop of Arundel and Brighton 1977–2000	Succeeded by Kieran Conry
Preceded by Basil Hume	Archbishop of Westminster 2000–2009	Succeeded by Vincent Nichols
Preceded by Anastasio Ballestrero	Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria sopra Minerva 2001– present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Murphy-Oconnor, Cormac
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 August 1932
Place of birth	Reading, Berkshire, England
Date of death
Place of death