VATICAN CITY, 1 OCT 2009 (VIS) – The Holy Father appointed:
– Bishop Bernard Longley, auxiliary of Westminster, England, as metropolitan archbishop of Birmingham (area 9,936 , population 5,333,791, Catholics 275,621, priests 391, permanent deacons 76, religious 669), England. The archbishop-elect was born in Manchester, England in 1955, he was ordained a priest in 1981 and consecrated a bishop in 2003.
I look forward to reading Father Finigan’s thoughts on the subject.
Brick by brick…
Damian Thompson thinks highly of him – about six months ago, he reported a rumor from Rome that Bishop Longley was scheduled for the position of Archbishop of Westminster. Conservatives were briefly heartened.He is very friendly to the TLM, apparently not a member of the ‘magic circle’, and is rather young – in his early 50’s.
I nearly choked on my lunch reading “That doesn’t mean that priests in Brum are suddenly going to turn eastwards (would you want to see the back of those polyester chasubles?)” in Damian Thompson’s blog http://tinyurl.com/ybweedb
If memory serves wasn’t he in seminary with either Fr. Finigan or Fr. Blake? I seem to recall a photo on one of their sites showing him with one or other of them back in their seminary days.
Wonderful. A truly HOLY man. Forget the conservative/liberal branding; here we have a man of God, and that is what the Church in England needs. Deo Gratias.
Birmingham’s wonderful gain is unfortunately Westminster’s sad loss.
Congratulations to Bishop Longley on this appointment.
Good news indeed. He was briefly tipped for the top job,as mentioned above, but Birmingham has traditionally had good Archbishops. It also means that one or two other bishops elsewhere who were holding their breath can now sleep more easily!
Of course he will be in post in time for the Holy Father’s visit next and the beatification of Card Newman. It would hardly have done for their to be no Archbishop in post in Birmingham: we haven’t got that many in the Uk for it to go unnoticed.
It is being reported on another blog that Bishop Longley was the one who was originally charged by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor with the establishing of a Mass in London for active “gays” (the scandalous “Soho Masses,” which are ongoing).