On 6 June 2005, the directors of London publishers Headline will hold a reception in the Throne Room of Archbishop's House, Westminster, to celebrate the publication of 'Basil Hume: The Monk Cardinal', the official biography of Cardinal George Basil Hume written by the political analyst and Times columnist Anthony Howard.

Anthony Howard has spoken about the research for such a biography. In the Introduction to the book ANTHONY HOWARD describes himself as a "wistful agnostic". He writes that anyone reading a book of this kind has a right to know something of his own attitude towards religion. "I think you have to come clean", he said, "so that one knows where one is coming from". In fact, in his Introduction he goes on to say that writing this book was for him "very much a voyage of discovery ....Getting to know my subject and beginning to have some feeling for the world in which he moved soon became for me easily the most rewarding aspect of the whole exercise".

Anthony Howard received the commission to write the biography of Cardinal Basil in March 2002, and he subsequently visited Ampleforth on two occasions. Even though he had seen Ampleforth before [he gave a Headmasters Lecture in 1997], he was, by his own admission, apprehensive about what he would find. He first came to Ampleforth in July 2002 with Liam Kelly [who was subsequently to become Secretary to Abbot Timothy and now Abbot Cuthbert], and he spent about three days there. He returned in Spring 2003 - and even recalls coming to the Clock Tower to watch the toppling of Saddam - to continue researching material for the sections of the book on Ampleforth.

Many of the personal papers and effects of the late Basil Hume were in the care of his literary executors, Liam Kelly and a Mr Charles Wookey, and they were taken up to Ampleforth following the great clear out of Archbishop's House, Westminster, when the new Archbishop moved in. In the course of his visits to Ampleforth, Anthony Howard had unique access to a number of these private letters [subsequently most of these have been transferred back to the Archdiocese of Westminster]. They included correspondence with the Vatican and other church leaders, royalty, political leaders and so on. Anthony was able to see letters from Jim Callaghan and from Margaret Thatcher offering Basil Hume a peerage and Anthony Howard himself said that subsequently, in 1998, Tony Blair made a verbal offer of a peerage, which was likewise refused. Blair suggested that Basil Hume could be part of the Lords Spiritual, adding another Lords Spiritual to the 26 Anglican bishops [Constitutional changes are not so easily made, implied Anthony Howard].

The preparation of the biography included talking with a number of monks and Old Amplefordians. In particular Anthony Howard talked with a number of Basil Hume's contemporaries and a number of Amplefordians from his time as a schoolmaster, such as Hugo Young (B57, died 2003) and Andrew Knight (A58). Andrew's mother had kept his history essays from schooldays and lent them to Anthony Howard. Basil Hume had marked them with a red pen, sometimes even re-writing whole essays and adding in the margin the time he had finished - 10.20pm in one case.

The first section of Basil Hume: The Monk Cardinal deals with Basil's life prior to his appointment to Westminster in 1976. Chapter headings include "A Newcastle Boyhood", "The Honourable Schoolboy", "Novice and Monk", "The Apprentice Schoolmaster", and "The Youthful Abbot". Later chapters include sections on Cardinal Hume's work on miscarriages of justice, his relationship with royalty, and ecumenical matters. The book ends with a moving account of the last few weeks of the life of Cardinal George Basil Hume, described in the Introduction as "one of the great Christian leaders of the 20th century".

Basil Hume: The Monk Cardinal is available in hardback, priced £20.00. ISBN: 0755312473

return to Miscellaneous