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Archbishop of canterbury

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Profile: Archbishop Vincent Nichols

He was the boy who wanted to be a lorry driver who grew up to become the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has now been appointed to the elite of the Church by Pope Francis.

He has been seen at times as a "liberal" figure whom opponents accused of supporting civil partnerships and gay-friendly Masses in London.

However, he has publically opposed gay marriage, saying in 2012, that the government plans for it were a "shambles", while fighting against plans for a quota of non-Catholics in RC schools.

The gay-friendly Masses at at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in London's Soho were discontinued in January 2013 after six years.

More recently he highlighted the plight of the poor by attacking the government's welfare reforms.

Archbishop Nichols warned the reforms were leaving people in "destitution" by the removal of a "safety net" and labelled the situation a "disgrace".

However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg hit

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Vincent Nichols

British Catholic prelate (born 1945)

Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is a Roman Catholic British prelate who has served as Archbishop of Westminster since 2009. He was the former Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009 and is the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was elevated into the College of Cardinals on 22 February 2014.[1]

On 8 November 2020, Nichols offered his customary resignation to Pope Francis on his 75th birthday. Accordingly, the Pontiff asked him to remain on as Archbishop until the appointment of a successor.[2]

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has criticised Nichols for claims of lack of personal responsibility, of compassion towards victims and for allegedly prioritizing the reputation of the Church above the suffering of victims. In response, an ecclesiastical spokesperson declared that Nichols would not be resigning his Cardinalship following the inquiry's criticisms as he was "determined to put it right".[2]

Early life and ministry

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Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols, Metropolitan Archbishop of Westminster (England) was born in Crosby in the archdiocese of Liverpool on 8 November 1945. After his primary and secondary studies, he entered the Venerable English College in Rome in 1963. He attended the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained his licentiate in theology. Returning to England, he continued his studies at the University of Manchester where he obtained the degree of "Master of Arts" with a thesis on the theology of St. John Fisher.

He was ordained a priest on 21 November 1969.

Back in his diocese, he led a group of priests managing pastoral care for the poor. In Liverpool in 1979, he was appointed as vice-Chancellor of the archdiocese and in the following year, director of the "Upholland Northern Institute". In 1984, he was nominated as general secretary of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Appointed titular Bishop of Othona and auxiliary of Westminster on 5 November 1991, he was consecrated on 24 January 1992. He was responsible for the pastoral care of th

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