Cardinal Nichols: 'Dilexit Nos' key to understanding Pope Francis’ pontificate

By Dorota Abdelmoula-Viet

“My memories of Pope Francis will always centre around his face. He was a man who always radiated joy with a smile”, recalls the Archbishop of Westminster when asked how he will remember Pope Francis. He stresses that “it wasn't joy or optimism for its own sake” but “an opening up of that first relationship that we have with Christ.”

“The other thing that strikes me was that he always wanted to convey and reinforce a sense of hope in people's lives”, he says. “No matter what difficulties anybody will get into, he would want us to be looking beyond that, understanding that God's mercy was there.”

Dilexit Nos

Out of the numerous texts by Pope Francis, Cardinal Nichols singles out the final encyclical Dilexit Nos as the most revealing: "I think everything else that he taught and did, was actually based in that. So it was like a last word, but also a first word." For the Archbishop of Westminster, the encyclical reflects Francis’ deepest convictions, a "heart-to-heart relationship between a disciple and Jesus.”

He recalls a passage from the text that struck him profoundly, the one that highlights the fact that everyone’s name is carved in the heart of the Lord (Dilexit Nos, 115) “I can understand that Jesus’ name might be written in my heart, but the other way around is even more startling." That startling truth, he says, "is what gives rise to the joy. And that's what gives rise to the hope."

Pope Francis greeting pilgrims in St Peter's Square during a General Audience   (ANSA)

Recalling the Consistory

Cardinal Nichols was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during his first consistory in 2014. Reflecting on that moment, he recalls: "It was a wonderful moment, actually. It was very solemn, but  it gave families and friends a privileged sense of being in Saint Peter’s, of sensing this unity with the Holy Father."

Though brief, the experience shared with other cardinals created a lasting sense of belonging to the universal Church: "We are brought together from around the world and we go back. Some I haven’t seen since”, he says.

Fratelli Tutti

Pope Francis’ Christ-centred spirituality gave rise to his broader social and moral vision, says Cardinal Nichols. Referring to the Pope’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti, he emphasises how it invites a transformed view of the human person: "We begin to see each other not simply as brother and sister, but also as somebody who brings Christ to me, whoever I might be."

This perspective, he suggests, reshapes society itself: "You begin to see the structure of the society in a different light. It has to do with a desire for a truth, a desire for service one to another, and a desire to build a society which is much more a pattern and a way of living, of a family, a human family. That’s what makes us great."

Diverse Legacy in England and Wales

Asked how Pope Francis will be remembered by Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Nichols offers a nuanced response: "Some people will take different angles." Some will recall his challenging economic systems: "If you want to know how good your economy is, then go and ask an unemployed person", - he repeats after the Holy Father. Others will remember his ecological vision and his urgent message of care for creation. "Many will recall the priority that he gave to the dignity and the fate of immigrants... His first visit was to Lampedusa."

Still others will think of his Ignatian roots: "A sense of his spirituality centred on the discernment of what is the next best thing to do." And many will remember his powerful appeals for peace, often expressed through actions, like when the Pope met in the Vatican the leaders of South Sudan engulfed in war: "He knelt on the floor and kissed their feet as a kind of plea: find a way of bringing this to an end."

Cardinal Nichols in Rome with King Charles   (Newsgroup UK)

Pope Francis and the peripheries

Francis will be remembered as the “Pope of the Peripheries,” and one of the areas where this mission became concrete was the fight against human trafficking. “The way he saw human trafficking was very much through the eyes of the victims” says Cardinal Nichols, referring among others to the Santa Marta Group, created in 2014 to prevent modern slavery and help its victims by bringing together the leaders of police and border authorities, charities and religious women to whom the victims often entrust their hope. "He used the phrase that human trafficking is a grievous wound in the flesh of humanity, and therefore it's a wound in the flesh of Christ."