Talk:Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster/Archive 1

--Pdjenner 14:14, 28 December 2005 (UTC) I am not happy with the passage which refers to the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster as Primate of England and Wales and Spiritual Leader of Great Britain. I am fairly certain this is simply not factually correct.


 * The paragraph says the Archbishop is "the spiritual leader of all Roman Catholics in Great Britain". The statement is a true reflection of his official status. --JohnArmagh 11:19, 29 December 2005 (UTC)


 * I will concede that the title "leader of the Church in England and Wales" is appropriate for the Cardinal, however, this title is derived from his election by his brother bishops as President of the Episcopal Conference of England & Wales, and not from his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster. You will note immediately after Cardinal Hume's death the Archbishop of Southwark was appointed as President of the Episcopal Conference, and the conference was very specific in its press release on the appointment of Cormac Murphy O'Connor as Archbishop:


 * "Neither Archbishop is 'leader of the Church in England and Wales'. The President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is Archbishop Michael Bowen of Southwark." (see CMO 15/2/2000).


 * However, I am still not happy with "Spiritual leader" as a title, as the spiritual leader of Catholics is the local diocesan bishop. At the same time, I still dispute the title "primate", as this is an honourary title conferred by Rome.  I am still researching the evidence to refute the entry.


 * Sorry if this seems trivial to anyone, however, accuracy not sentimentality should be the aim of anyone contributing to this site. It does the Church no favours to encourage language which is not accurate?  --Pdjenner 22:11, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

The 'spiritual leader' or 'leader' of English Catholics is the Pope. Roydosan

Renaming this page
I was thinking of renaming this page as 'Archdiocese of Westminster'. This would follow the pattern of the other British RC dioceses.

Parish Links
Again why delete these? Just add more - putting a link in for parishes is valid and does not necessarily indicate theological bias.
 * To that purpose, I have put in a link that is to the link page for the parishes of the diocese, and not only those which cater to the liturgical preferences of a very small minority of Catholics.  Kevin McE 20:35, 19 April 2006 (UTC)