Cardinal Highly Likely to Become a Lord

Why is a Catholic Cardinal popular with an anti-Chrisitan Government?

I find the article below a little disconcerting. The actions of the UK Government in the moral realm over the past 10 years have been shameful, with regard to repeated failure to defend life in the womb, the monsterous HFE bill to create 'saviour siblings', human/animal embronic hybrids and the removal of the ability for religious adoption groups to act in accordance with their conscience in the placement of children in their care. All of these Government measures and more have certainly added weight to the argument that the UK Government is becoming quickly more anti-Christian.

In such times, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales would, historically speaking, have been a 'thorn in the side' of a Government with an agenda which is so firmly rooted in the Culture of Death. Both Brown and Blair should, arguably, have been heard saying, "Will nobody rid me of this meddlesome Cardinal!?" Yet, the present spiritual leader of this land's Roman Catholics, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Conner, is to be offered a peerage. Aside from the fact that the Anglican Church remain morally ambiguous on many of these subjects and send out mixed messages anyway, one could argue that its failure to speak out to defend right is compounded by the fact that many Anglican clergy are too close to the State itself, what with the Queen being the head of the Anglican Church. To me it suggests that the Cardinal has not publicly made the Church position on so much the Government has done unequivocally clear and unambiguous. No Church leader should surely be so popular with this Government!

The article below is courtesy of Times Online

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor is on course to become the first Roman Catholic bishop to sit in the House of Lords since the Reformation, The Times has learnt. The Archbishop of Westminster looks almost certain to be offered a peerage after his retirement, which is expected within weeks. The Prime Minister said during an interview with The Tablet, the Roman Catholic weekly, that the Cardinal’s leadership qualities had gained him public respect and confirmed that discussions of his elevation to the Lords would “be discussed at a later stage”.

The prospect of offering Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor a life peerage is understood to have been discussed during Gordon Brown’s meeting with the Pope at the Holy See last week. Mr Brown said: “He has shown not just a great modesty, but a great sensitivity to representing the feelings and sentiments of people throughout the Church. “He is widely respected across the world for his interest in international development. He has shown great leadership on those issues, such as world poverty, where people look to the Church for leadership. I think he has shown great integrity right throughout the period in which he has been Cardinal and that has earned the respect of people far beyond the Catholic Church and right across the country.”

The Church of England, as the Established Church, has 26 lords spiritual. The ennoblement of Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor would, however, require a special dispensation from the Pope because the Catholic Church bans its clergy from any office that might involve the exercise of political power. Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, 76, will be the first Archbishop of Westminster since the Reformation to retire; previous archbishops have died in office. He will remain an active member of the College of Cardinals and retain an interest in the affairs of the Holy See. The move would strengthen the Catholic Church’s increasingly significant role in political debate on issues such as euthanasia, gay adoption, church schools and abortion.

The Cardinal is due to retire in the next few weeks. In a public address at Westminster Cathedral recently, the Cardinal warned against pessimism about the future of the influence of religion in public life. He also gave an indication of what his priorities might be were he sitting in the House of Lords, criticising the use of legislation to limit religious freedom and praising the contributions made by Christian charities in providing public services.