When Cardinal Hume died, it was generally observed, in obituaries and other assessments of his achievements, that he had “normalised” Catholicism, removed the lingering hostility towards the Church still felt at the beginning of his time in Westminster. The Queen spoke of him approvingly as “my cardinal”. All seemed peaceful and unthreatening; we had finally settled in.
Some of us were not so sure; I, for one, felt that this “normalised” Catholicism had become acceptable because we were now thought to be harmless. I was not sure that this was such a good thing. It would be healthy, I thought, to have to face a little opposition: at least it would mean that we were taken seriously.
