The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton was today named as successor to the late Cardinal Basil Hume.

Bishop Cormac Murphy O'Connor has been appointed Archbishop of Westminster, the new spiritual leader of the 4.1m Catholics in England and Wales.

Today the Archbishop-elect, 67, said: "Although I am not as young as I was when I first became a bishop, I now undertake this new task with equal willingness, encouraged as I know I will be by the good wishes and prayers of so very many people.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the priests and people of Arundel and Brighton for their support and friendship. I would also like to thank the Christians of Surrey and Sussex with whom I have worked so happily during my time there.

"There is much to be done and I accept very willingly the challenges that lie ahead because I know that with the help of God and the active cooperation of priests and people, we can fulfill what Christ, the Son of God, wants us to do and to be.

"Some talk of gloomy times but I don't see it that way because those who believe in and follow Jesus Christ are invited to be ever more faithful, ever more true to Him, as they bring His message of hope and reconciliation to the people of our times."

The appointment, which ends months of speculation since the death of Cardinal Hume last June, is seen by many within the Catholic Church as being a "progressive" choice. Archbishop-elect Murphy O'Connor, who lists music and sport among his interests, was born in 1932 in Berkshire and was ordained a priest in Rome in 1956.

At the age of four, he announced his ambition was to be either "a doctor or Pope". He was appointed Bishop of Arundel and Brighton at the end of 1977 and has since served as chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Europe and vice-president of the Laity Commission.

In 1984 his book, The Family of the Church, was published and he was recently awarded a doctorate in divinity by Archbishop George Carey. He has served as co-chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission since 1983 and succeeded in improving relations between Rome and the Church of England through a difficult period.

He was recommended to the Vatican by the leading Catholic layman, the Duke of Norfolk, and by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey. Archbishop-elect Murphy O'Connor will continue to administer to Arundel and Brighton until he is installed in his new post at the end of March.

The selection process for his successor will then begin. The Archdiocese of Westminster was established in 1850 and includes the Greater London boroughs north of the River Thames and west of Waltham Forest and Newham.

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