Lower VI reflects

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor

Mrs McDermott, Head of Religious Studies, reports that, in their General RE lesson this week, Lower VI reflected on the life and legacy of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, former Archbishop of Westminster, whose funeral was held earlier this week.

Here, Heather Woodman, Lower VI, gives us her reflections:

‘Cardinal Cormac’s funeral Mass was held on Wednesday 13^th September at Westminster Cathedral.  Mrs Raffray and two of our pupils attended and, as a school community, we held prayers for the repose of his soul.

Cardinal Cormac was the tenth Archbishop of Westminster and held this position for nine years between 2000 and 2009. He was born in Reading on 24^th August 1932 and most of his life was dedicated to religion. Cardinal Cormac also gained licentiates in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and then, on returning to England, served as curate at Corpus Christi, Portsmouth. On 21^st December 1977 he was consecrated as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton and became involved in parish and school visitations. Cardinal Cormac is connected to our school community as his great-nieces are alumnae and many of our students’ families are parishioners at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward in Chiswick where Cardinal Cormac was also a parishioner himself.

One of Cardinal Cormac’s strongest beliefs was that the Church should be ‘experienced not as a faceless institution but as a community, a family, to whose life all its members contribute’, and at our school his words ring true as we embrace his beliefs in the time after his death, and pray for his family at this time.’