On the eve of the funeral of Pope Francis, Cardinal Vincent Nichols spoke to several BBC local and regional radio stations to discuss the legacy of the late pontiff and the shape of the days to come.

Linking up live from Rome, the Cardinal spoke to presenter Roberto Perrone, himself a Catholic, to share his experiences.

This interview went out live on BBC Three Counties Radio and BBC Radio Northampton on Friday afternoon, 25 April 2025.

With thanks to the BBC for the audio.

Three days after the death of Pope Francis, Cardinal Vincent Nichols speaks to us from Rome about his personal feelings and experiences ahead of the papal funeral.

With so many noble causes competing for our attention, why is it important for us to pray for the Christians of the East with whom we share an indelible link?

And how can we find out more about these Christian communities and the challenges they face? That’s the subject of this Catholic News podcast.

We’re joined by Dr Harry Hagopian, an International Lawyer with experience in conflict resolution and a consultant on the Middle East North Africa region. Importantly, Harry is an Armenian Christian and was a former Assistant General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches.

On a day of celebration, when we come together to share the light of Jesus Christ risen from the dead, Cardinal Vincent Nichols urges us to find an image of Easter that strengthens our faith:

“It might be the image of the light of Christ coming like the dawn and slowly dispersing the darkness of our nights and showing us a new horizon – a new thing to aim for. It might be the image of water pouring from a solid rock face as we experience life as harsh. Yet we know that in that rock face, Christ has created a fissure through which light and water pour, giving us hope and strength.

“It might be the image of a desert suddenly covered with a bloom of flowers – new promise in what seemed to be a barren way of life. Whatever the image, the proclamation is simple. Christ is Risen. Death has no power anymore.”

Looking at the human being should always be our standpoint when we look at any issue. That's the view of Archbishop John Wilson, who spoke to us shortly after launching his local CARITAS Southwark social action charity for South East England.

The Archdiocese of Southwark not only has South London in its catchment area but also Kent and hence its coastal areas, like Dover.

“At the heart of any issue is a person. And if we lose sight of the person, then we begin to work in a way that is inhuman and that is intolerable,” he said. “We must always, at the heart, see the person and value and love the person.”

“It’s really, really important that when we think about the needs of the other, that other has a face and that other has a name and that other has a family – that other could be me one day, it could be you one day.”

The First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS, has attended a service of Memorial Vespers in Cardiff’s Catholic Cathedral joining the faithful as they gathered to pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who died on New Year’s Eve aged 95.

Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, led the service and used his sermon to pay a warm tribute to Benedict XVI in the presence of ecumenical and interreligious guests as well as local dignitaries.“He did not want to be served but to serve,” said Archbishop O’Toole. “He was a faithful and humble servant of the Gospel. “He gave out all the wealth of his heart, and intellect, and serving in this way, he has left us rich fruit, especially in the corpus of his writings, homilies, papal audiences, as well as his sensitive attention to the person in front of him.”

The Memorial Vespers for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI took place in Cardiff Cathedral at 6pm on Tuesday, 3 January 2023.

Our final ‘At the Foot of the Cross’ podcast of the year features a whistle-stop review of the year with our General Secretary, Canon Christopher Thomas.

As we move prayerfully through the final octave of Advent, and with our O Antiphons audio series live and online, in this podcast, we look towards Christmas and the coming of the Word made Flesh.

Canon Chris discusses some of the events that have framed our year – the tragedy of the war in Ukraine, the Bishops’ first plenary meeting in Wales for 18 years, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the visit of the relics of St Bernadette. He concludes with a final reflection for Advent, encouraging us all to pray at the crib this year – particularly for peace in troubled times.

Finally, it’s over to Bishop Peter Brignall, the Bishop of Wrexham for a wonderful five-minute Christmas message.

Retiring Bishop Alan Hopes, the fourth Bishop of East Anglia, formally requests that the mandate from the Holy See is read out at the Episcopal Ordination of his successor Peter Collins. These are the words of Pope Francis read in Latin and then in English.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop of Westminster, gave this homily at the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Peter Collins in Norwich:

"Peter, this is what you will do very shortly as you lie prostrate before the Lord your last act before becoming a bishop. Your act of prostration is our keenest moment of prayer. We beseech for you every grace and blessing, for we know and believe that all this, all that is good, is the work of the Holy Spirit. For that gift, we pray with all our hearts."

Given in the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist in Norwich on Wednesday, 14 December 2022.

Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, Eparch, or Bishop, of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic community in the UK, spoke to us on the day His Majesty King Charles III and the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, visited the Ukrainian Welcome Centre in London. The Centre was set up to provide guidance and assistance to the temporarily displaced Ukrainians.

"One of the touching moments was when His Majesty was talking to some of these young mothers with their children and the expressions on the children's faces. They maybe didn't recognise who His Majesty was but they knew that people were paying attention to them and it was a wonderful experience.

"Others were just overwhelmed by the fact that they woke up this morning and they had no idea that today they would be meeting the First Lady and His Majesty the King. A lot of people were showing their emotions at being greeted both by His Majesty and the First Lady of Ukraine."