2002 News
- News Archive
Archbishop of Westminster Delivers Lecture at St Mary's College
His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, visited St Mary's College in Twickenham on Friday October 11 to lecture on 'Authority in Church and Society.' Cardinal Murphy O'Connor was installed tenth Archbishop of Westminster in March 2000 and in February 2001 he was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II. Earlier this year, at the invitation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, he was the first member of the Catholic hierarchy to deliver a sermon to an English monarch since 1680.
In his lecture the Cardinal stated that authority in the Church should be directed towards service and authority in society should be directed towards the common good, 'respecting the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person'. His Eminence added that authority should be 'founded on truth, built up in justice and animated by love'. The Cardinal also stated that the authentic voice of the Church is that of 'God's truth' and is a voice 'enriched with the gifts Our Lord has given her and emboldened and quickened with the authority with which He has invested her.'
His Eminence emphasised the importance of addressing the issue of child abuse and said that the Church has 'a prime duty to ensure that allegations of abuse are properly and scrupulously dealt with so that children can be protected for any kind of harm or exploitation from any quarter.' He commented on the need to listen to the 'sometimes anguished criticism from victims and their families in order to have a greater appreciation of their suffering'.
The lecture was one of a series organised by St Mary's
College based upon themes connected with Mission and Evangelisation
and features lectures by Cardinals from across the world. The next lecture
is being held on November 4 in which Cardinal Arinze, President of the
Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, will address the 'Urgency
of Proclamation in a World of Religious and Cultural Plurality.'
