UK bishops pray for Thatcher at St Peter's

(Vatican Radio) Catholic bishops from across England and Wales are making a week long retreat at the summer residence of the Venerable English College, south of Rome. On Wednesday the group of over 30 Church leaders, including retired Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, met privately with Pope Francis after attending his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square. The bishops also celebrated Mass at the tomb of Saint Peter inside the Basilica for the repose of the soul of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, just hours before the funeral of the former British Prime Minister was celebrated in London’s St Paul’s Cathedral.
Philippa Hitchen caught up with the current Archbishop of Westminster and president of the bishops conference of England and Wales, Vincent Nichols, to find out more about this week’s meeting….
Listen:

“We were privileged to meet Pope Francis this morning and in a few short remarks Cardinal Cormac said to him that these weeks of his pontificate have given a fresh joy and hope to the Church…..there’s a fresh Spring about the Church at the moment and I think that’s from the Pope’s eloquence in gesture and his words when he preaches and at his audiences…
I think what is most remarkable in the UK is that everybody seems to have been touched by his eloquence, by his gentleness and by the humility of Pope Francis…
One of the themes of our retreat is that we should not be afraid of our poverty before God, we should not be afraid of our weakness as we stand before our Lord…..I think it is a sense of willingness to serve the Lord, rather than to seek success, that will motivate us afresh…
At the time of her (Baroness Thatcher) death, I said very simply that the first duty of the Catholic community was to pray for the repose of her soul, for the comfort of her family and all those who mourn her death. This morning we celebrated Mass at the tomb of St Peter and we prayed for the repose of the soul of Margaret Thatcher in that most precious place in our Christian history.”