Basil Hume

Infobox Cardinal
honorific-prefix =
name = George Basil Cardinal Hume

honorific-suffix = OSB, OM
title = Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster


caption =
province =
diocese =
see = Westminster
enthroned = February 9, 1976
ended = June 17, 1999
predecessor = John Carmel Heenan
successor = Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor
ordination = July 23, 1950
consecration = March 26, 1976
cardinal = May 24, 1976
rank =
other_post = Abbot of Saint Lawrence Abbey
birth_name = George Haliburton Hume
birth_date = birth date|1923|3|2|mf=y
birthplace = Newcastle upon Tyne, England
death_date = death date and age|1999|6|17|1923|3|2|mf=y
deathplace =
buried = Westminster Cathedral
nationality = English - French
religion = Roman Catholic
residence = London
|

George Basil Cardinal Hume OSB, OM (March 2, 1923—June 17, 1999) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales from 1979 until his death. Hume was elevated to the cardinalate in 1976.

During his lifetime Hume received wide respect from the general public which went beyond the Catholic community. [cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_12_131/ai_n8569018/pg_2|publisher=Commonweal|title=English Catholics: a singular history & an uncertain future|date=15 January 2008] Following his death, a statue of him was erected in his home town of Newcastle upon Tyne, unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II . [cite news|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/OutPut/Page1147.asp|publisher=Royal.gov.uk|title=7 May 2002: The Queen and Prince Philip receive a hearty welcome on the first day of their North East tour|date=15 January 2008]

Early life and ministry

George Haliburton Hume was born in Newcastle upon Tyne to Sir William Errington Hume and Marie Elizabeth (née Tisseyre) Hume. His father was a Protestant cardiac physician from Scotland, and his mother the French Catholic daughter of an army officer. He had three sisters and one brother.

Hume contemplated joining the Dominicans but entered the novitiate of the Benedictine monastery at Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire at the age of 18. He had been a pupil at Ampleforth College between the ages of 13 and 18. He took the name Basil when he received the habit, and he was solemnly professed in 1945.

After studying at Ampleforth, Hume went on to study at St. Benet's Hall in Oxford, a Benedictine institution, where he graduated with a degree in theology.Thereafter, he earned a licentiate in sacred theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.

He was ordained a priest on July 23, 1950. Returning to Ampleforth to teach modern languages, he became its abbot in 1963.

Episcopacy

On February 9, 1976, Hume was appointed Archbishop of Westminster, the highest ranking prelate in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, by Pope Paul VI. He was not an obvious choice for Archbishop as he had no experience running a diocese and as the first monk to hold the post since the 1850 restoration of the English hierarchy he was seen to be something of an outsider. Receiving news of the appointment during dinner, Hume later remarked, "I must confess I did not enjoy the rest of the meal". [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918115,00.html Jogger's Progress] March 1, 1976]

Hume received his episcopal consecration on the following March 25 (the feast of the Annunciation) from Archbishop Bruno Heim, with Bishops Basil Butler, OSB, and John McClean serving as co-consecrators, in Westminster Cathedral.

He was created Cardinal Priest of "S. Silvestro in Capite" by Paul VI in the consistory of May 24, 1976, and was one of the cardinal electors in the conclaves of August and October 1978.

Cardinal Hume's time in office saw Catholicism become more accepted in British society than it had been for 400 years, culminating in the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Cathedral in 1995. He had previously read the Epistle at the installation ceremony of Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury in 1980. It was also during his tenure in Westminster that Pope John Paul II made a groundbreaking visit to England.infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Cardinal Basil Hume, OSB
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=Cardinal
deathstyle=none
See=Westminster | In 1998, Hume asked John Paul II for permission to retire, expressing the wish to return to Ampleforth and devote his last years to peace and solitude, fly fishing and following his beloved Newcastle United Football Club. The request was refused.

He was diagnosed with inoperable abdominal cancer in April 1999. On June 2 of that same year, Queen Elizabeth awarded him the Order of Merit. He died just over two weeks later in London, at age 76. After a funeral service broadcast live on national television, he was buried in Westminster Cathedral. John Paul II, in his message of condolence to the Church in England and Wales, praised Hume as a "shepherd of great spiritual and moral character". [BBC News. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/cardinal_hume_funeral/372469.stm Pope's Tribute to Hume - full text] June 25, 1999]

Hume was seen as moderate in his theological positions, trying to please both liberals and conservatives. [Archdiocese of Westminster. [http://www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/default.asp?library_ref=1&content_ref=15 Cardinal George Basil Hume] January 11, 2005] While condemning homosexual acts, for instance, he accepted the validity of love between gay people. [BBC News. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/cardinal_hume_funeral/334766.stm Basil Hume: From Monk to Cardinal] June 25, 1999] Moreover, he was opposed to women priests [Time Asia. [http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990628/milestones.html Milestones] June 28, 1999] but described most detractors of "Humanae Vitae" as "good, conscientious and faithful". [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991368,00.html Milestones] June 28, 1999]

Hume's success as Archbishop of Westminster—he was regularly named Britain's most popular religious figure in opinion polls—was attributed by some to the great humility and warmth with which he treated everyone he met, regardless of their religion or background.

Cardinal Hume Catholic School

The Cardinal Hume Catholic School has been recently opened in Wrekenton, part of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. It is replacing the aging St Edmund Campion School, and accommodates over a thousand students, in state of the art surroundings. [http://www.cardinalhume.com]

Legacy

* A statue of Cardinal Hume was erected in his home town of Newcastle and unveiled by the Queen in 2002.
* The Cardinal Hume Centre based in Westminster works to improve the lives of homeless young people, families, and other vulnerable and socially excluded members of society.
* The Cardinal Hume Rose is named after him.
* The Cardinal Hume Catholic School has been recently opened in Wrekenton, part of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

Trivia

*He was a lifelong fan of jogging, squash and Newcastle United F.C. [Ibid.] [Time Magazine. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918115,00.html Jogger's Progress] March 1, 1976]
*Hume was the last Archbishop of Westminster to employ a Gentiluomo. The Gentiluomo was a form of ceremonial bodyguard who accompanied the Archbishop at formal occasions. As the role had become archaic, no new Gentiluomo was appointed after the death of Hume's Gentiluomo, Anthony Bartlett, OBE, in 2001.

References

ee also

Anthony Howard, "Basil Hume, the monk cardinal", Headline, 2005 (ISBN 0-7553-1247-3).

External links

* [http://www.cardinalhume.com Cardinal Hume Secondary School]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/371937.stm BBC Coverage of the Cardinal's death]
* [http://www.cardinalhumecentre.org.uk Cardinal Hume Centre]
* [http://www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/default.asp?library_ref=1&content_ref=15 Archdiocese of Westminster's biography]
* [http://www.northumbria.info/Pages/cardinalhume.html Statue of Cardinal Hume, Newcastle upon Tyne]