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Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, former leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, dies aged 85.
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was a bishop and cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster and former President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He submitted his resignation as archbishop on reaching his 75th birthday in 2007; it was accepted on 3 April 2009 when Pope Benedict appointed Vincent Nichols as the new archbishop.
By virtue of his position as Archbishop of Westminster, Murphy-O’Connor was sometimes referred to as the Catholic Primate of England and Wales. However, though the holders within the Church of England of the posts of Archbishop of Canterbury and Archbishop of York are called the “Primate of All England” and “Primate of England” respectively, the title of primate has never been used by the de facto leaders of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
