Cardinal Vincent Nichols displays on Pope Francis and the Catholic Church forward of papal conclave : NPR

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30px)" class="img" type="image/jpeg"/> <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6720x3780+0+350/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2F8c%2Fcb678bb04528a77148cdc05dcf78%2Fgettyimages-2210744643.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6720x3780+0+350/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2F8c%2Fcb678bb04528a77148cdc05dcf78%2Fgettyimages-2210744643.jpg" class="img" alt="Cardinal Vincent Nichols after officiating the solemn requiem at The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, informally known as Westminster Cathedral on April 21, 2025 in London, England." fetchpriority="high"/> Cardinal Vincent Nichols after officiating the solemn requiem at The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Treasured Blood, informally often called Westminster Cathedral on April 21, 2025 in London, England. 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Alishia Abodunde/Getty Photos ROME — Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Church's prime official for England and Wales because the Archbishop of Westminster, is getting ready to enter his first papal conclave. He says the duty of selecting a brand new pope is "intimidating," and expects a reflective temper because the cardinals collect contained in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

"When these doorways shut, all the hypothesis and manner of speaking about this as oppositional, you recognize, conservative towards liberal and all of that stuff — that can end, and there will be far more a temper of reflection," Nichols informed NPR.

Nichols, 79, was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis in February, 2014. He is a part of essentially the most numerous School of Cardinals in his church's historical past. Like Nichols, a majority of the voting cardinals (these below age 80) have been appointed by Francis.

"I met this morning a cardinal from Rwanda… What he is received to inform us! A couple of nation like Rwanda and what it is lived by and what the church is dealing with now. There will be a cardinal from Myanmar, from Burma… He is residing below a navy dictatorship. So we have got to pay attention," Nichols mentioned. "In every of those locations, the tales, the accounts, they make up the mosaic of the Church world wide."

<source srcset="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/400/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 400w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/600/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 600w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/800/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 800w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/900/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 900w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1200/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1200w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1600/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1600w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1800/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1800w" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg" sizes="(min-width: 1025px) 650px, calc(100vw - 30px)" class="img" type="image/webp"/> <source srcset="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/400/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 400w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/600/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 600w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/800/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 800w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/900/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 900w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1200/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1200w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1600/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1600w, https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1800/quality/85/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg 1800w" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg" sizes="(min-width: 1025px) 650px, calc(100vw - 30px)" class="img" type="image/jpeg"/> <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4608x3456+288+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F98%2Faf%2F2b03a919464aab72b1720f80e5fc%2Fgettyimages-474123013.jpg" class="img" alt="Cardinal Vincent Nichols receives his Biretta from Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Basilica on February 22, 2014 in Vatican City, Vatican." loading="lazy"/> Cardinal Vincent Nichols receives his Biretta from Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Basilica on February 22, 2014 in Vatican Metropolis, Vatican. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty disguise caption

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Peter Macdiarmid/Getty He says that the times in Rome main as much as the conclave are a possibility for cardinals to pay attention to one another's tales.

Nichols additionally acknowledged the significance of listening to survivors of sexual abuse within the church. He shared that he is been assembly with victims for the previous 20 years and known as for the church to herald outsiders to assist them.

"I am unable to take the ache away. I can attempt to perceive it," Nichols mentioned. "Paradoxically, the church is the final place the place they will get quick assist as a result of we're the perpetrator."

Whereas Nichols would not assume he'll come out of the conclave as the following chief of the Catholic Church, he says that the one who does will probably be making the final word sacrifice.

"I feel being chosen pope is a mini form of dying," Nichols informed NPR. "Whoever is chosen pope won't ever go house once more. They will lose each final vestige of privateness. His entire life will then be taken over — for good objective… However it's a form of complete give up."

Throughout a conclave, cardinals are totally sequestered within the Casa Santa Marta, joined solely by the nuns who run the home the place Pope Francis lived. They're lower off from the surface, together with tv, radio, and cellphones. Nichols says he can get by with out his podcasts, however lacking out on soccer scores could be a bit of tougher.

"I am not fairly positive what occurs to my cell phone... They could take them off us, I do not know. Or they could block the indicators. I don't know. We'll discover out. However it's my alarm clock. I am fearful I could be sleeping by [things]... and likewise your telephone has received prayer on it that we use so it will be attention-grabbing."

Nichols was informed that the typical size of a conclave is 2 or three days, however it may well final so long as it takes till two-thirds of the cardinals taking part agree on the brand new pope. He says he packed just a few additional pairs of socks, simply in case.