POPE LEO XIV
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At the end of the day on Sunday, April 27, around 100 cardinals gathered in the Basilica of St. Mary Major to attend Vespers, pray before the icon of Mary there that Francis so loved, and pay their respects at the tomb of Pope Francis. Many cardinals did not make the trip, which was not mandatory.
Among those absent was Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. In fact, the British cardinal was in front of a television watching the Premier League final soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham, a club from north London.
Although he’s the bishop of the English capital, Cardinal Nichols, who is originally from Liverpool, was supporting the city’s famous Reds in this decisive match for the title. And thanks to a 5-1 victory over the Spurs, he was able to witness his team's coronation at their Anfield stadium. The cardinal arrived at the general congregation in the morning with a big smile on his face: “It's really great for Liverpool,” he rejoiced.
A spiritual connection with Francis and with his own vocation
Cardinal Nichols' passion for soccer is in itself a beautiful tribute to Pope Francis, himself a great soccer fan and loyal supporter of his family club, San Lorenzo. The love of the game was often a topic of conversation between the late pontiff and the Archbishop of Westminster.
But Cardinal Nichols’ enthusiasm is rooted in an even deeper spiritual reality, since in his youth, the cardinal's vocation matured in the stands of Anfield Stadium. In a testimony published in 2018 on his diocese's website, he recounts how he one day began to feel called -- an uncomfortable feeling that he resisted by going to the stadium to watch his favorite club play.
“I can remember standing on the Kop [the stand where a club's most active supporters gather, ed.] watching this football match and just wanting to lose myself in this crowd. I used to say, ‘Lord, would you please forget about me please, just let me be like everyone else, I don't want this.’”
Little by little, the young Englishman finally opened up to this calling and ended up embracing it. And his vocation never completely distanced him from the Anfield Road team, since even years later in Rome, on the eve of a conclave, something of that old popular passion resurfaced in the heart of the man in red.
