Cardinal Nichols on conclave: ‘intimidating’ but it’s our duty
The Catholic Herald• April 24, 2025
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has spoken about how despite the “intimidating” prospect of participating in a conclave he is looking forward to carrying out his duty to help choose Pope Francis’s successor.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who leads the roughly six million Roman Catholics in England and Wales, told BBC North West that he “never thought” he would be voting because Pope Francis “didn’t show many signs of slowing down” and appeared to be recovering from his long stay in hospital due to double pneumonia.
The cardinal almost missed out on participating in the conclave – similar to Cardinal Robert Sarah – as he is only a few months off his 80th birthday, the age limit for voting rights in a conclave.
There are currently 252 cardinals and while all can take part in the debate about who should be chosen, the voting age restriction means only the 135 who are under the age of 80 can vote.
Following Pope Francis’s funeral this Saturday, Cardinal Nichols will join his fellow cardinals to vote for the 267th pontiff of the Romand Catholic Church.
He told the BBC that the prospect was “quite intimidating frankly”.
The Archbishop of Westminster described how he initially thought this responsibility would “pass me by” until he then realised: “Oh Lord, this is going to come my way.”
The conclave, which traditionally starts after a two-week mourning period, sees the College of Cardinals gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast a series of votes to choose the next pope.
Cardinal Nichols said that he believed the cardinals would be able to do their “best work once the doors of the conclave have been shut” – at that point, there would be “a peace and a prayerfulness between us”.
He added: “I know I have got to get myself together and be a little nuanced to all the political manoeuvring and Paddy Power’s bets and all that, and say [to myself] ‘actually, this is a group of men trying to discern the will of God’,” he said.
“That’s the only thing that matters.”
Following the death of Pope Francis, Cardinal Nichols appeared on BBC Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day” segment to express his sadness at the loss of the Pope.
“The death of Pope Francis takes from us a voice has been heard in every corner of the world,” he said.
“A voice of warm encouragement and sharp challenge, expressing both love of God and love of our shared humanity.”
Photo: New Cardinal, Vincent Nichols poses for photographs at The English College on February 22, 2014 in Rome, Italy. 19 new cardinals have been created in a ceremony in the Vatican. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)