London – Today, in Westminster Cathedral, the evocative rite of canonical taking possession of the Archdiocese by Mgr Richard Moth, appointed by Pope Leo XIV on 19 December, took place. This morning the celebration was preceded by the chanting of Lauds at 11.00 and Terce at 11.30. At 12.00 the Mass began with the rite of taking possession. To the sound of a fanfare specially composed by Simon Johnson, Master of Music, Archbishop Moth entered the Cathedral through the Great West Door and was welcomed by the Provost, Canon Shaun Lennard.
The welcoming rite draws on an ancient Pontifical used at Canterbury in the time of Archbishop Chichele (1414–1443). At Westminster it has been a tradition since the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850, and the appointment of Nicholas Wiseman as the first Archbishop of Westminster.
The moment of installation followed the public reading of the Apostolic Letter of Pope Leo XIV, proclaimed by Canon Jeremy Trood, Chancellor of the Diocese of Westminster.
Canon Lennard then pronounced the installation formula:
«By his authority I, Shaun Lennard,
being Provost of the Metropolitan Chapter of Westminster,
do install you, the Lord Richard,
Archbishop in this Church of Westminster,
in which may our Lord Jesus Christ
guard your going in from henceforth,
now and for evermore».
After the installation, the Archbishop Emeritus, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, handed to Mgr Moth the crosier of Westminster, the symbol of his office as bishop. The Provost and the canons of the Metropolitan Chapter then greeted the new Archbishop, followed by representatives of the diocesan clergy, the ethnic chaplaincies, and the pastoral and administrative bodies.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, then greeted Archbishop Moth on behalf of the co-presidents of Churches Together in England, offering a message of welcome: “I stand here also as one who has recently been confirmed as Archbishop of Canterbury and who awaits installation. In the months ahead, you and I will share a particular responsibility as Presidents of Churches Together in England, and I very much look forward to working with you to deepen our relationships and to strengthen our shared Christian witness”.
With the installation rite concluded, Archbishop Moth presided over the Pontifical Mass.
The words of the new Archbishop
In his homily, Mgr Richard Moth linked today to a personal memory: “On 26 March 1976,” he said, he was in this Cathedral for the episcopal ordination of the late Cardinal Basil Hume, when Paul’s words to Timothy were proclaimed: “Fan into flame the gift of God… for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-control.” From there, the Archbishop outlined the shape of ministry as self-mastery made possible by the Holy Spirit, as love “wholly given” even to the Cross, and as service that brings Faith, Love and Hope “to a world which, in our time, cries out for Hope.”
He asked the people and clergy to join in thanksgiving for the diocese’s witness to the Gospel, “not least” in the life of Cardinal Vincent, as he “moves towards more restful pastures”, and he placed his own beginning within a continuity: “we have so much to build on.” In the past hours, those same words of the new Archbishop have also echoed in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, where Mgr Ronald Aldon Hicks likewise took canonical possession of his new diocese. This morning Moth set out a programme: to go out into the world of our time, like the seventy-two, bringing the Gospel of Peace into parish communities, homes, schools, universities and workplaces.
One passage of the homily concerned presence in public life, recalling Pope Benedict XVI in Westminster Hall in 2010: the dialogue between reason and faith as a mutual necessity “for the good of our civilisation”, and religion as a “vital contribution” to the conversation. On this basis, Moth listed the “great issues of our time” that call to be illuminated by the light of the Gospel: peace between peoples, the dignity of every person, the right to life at every stage, the protection of the vulnerable, the condition of the refugee and of those who have nothing, the care of our common home. At the same time, he acknowledged the wounds caused by ecclesial failures, especially when “the vulnerable have been abused”: a failure that, he said, demands listening, learning from those who have suffered, and an ongoing commitment so that communities are safe places in the encounter with Christ and among people. In this context he reaffirmed that the Church’s power is measured as the power of service, according to the form of Jesus who “empties himself for the salvation of all.” Today’s liturgy - with the memorial of Saints Cyril and Methodius - enabled him to return to the source: a Church rooted in prayer and in the Sacred Liturgy, with the Eucharist as the nourishment of mission. Evangelisation, he insisted, is a call to a relationship with the person of Jesus Christ: walking with him in prayer, listening to him in the Scriptures, remaining with him in adoration, welcoming him in the Eucharist. In closing, Moth recalled the patience indicated in Evangelii Gaudium and urged that not everything be measured by immediate results: time is God’s gift and must be used in service. He also spoke of a “quiet revival” of faith and offered the image of the flame: the flame of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost, called to be fanned into flame through prayer and a deepening of faith, so that the Archdiocese may grow as a “School of the Lord’s Service”, in the service of Christ and of the people encountered along the way.
The beginning of a fruitful journey
Towards the conclusion of the Mass, during the singing of the Te Deum, Archbishop Moth was accompanied along the Cathedral to impart the blessing to the people; in doing so, he paused briefly in prayer at the tomb of one of his predecessors, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, tenth Archbishop of Westminster (2000–2009) and third Bishop of Arundel and Brighton (1977–2000).
In the homily, the new Archbishop Richard Moth recalled Saint Benedict, a figure dear to him also because of his connection with Pluscarden Abbey, and he cited Benedict XVI. At the centre was a very clear pastoral line: it is in the Eucharist that Jesus feeds us with himself for our work as his disciples. It is from the Eucharist and from prayer that the work of evangelisation flows, because evangelisation is a call to a relationship: the relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. For Westminster, the appointment by Pope Leo XIV takes shape as a gift: a bishop who places prayer first and intends to accompany clergy and laity towards the Lord Jesus.
Fr.V.B.
Silere non possum