Paul KeenanAppointment comes after university status granted
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, has been appointed as the first Chancellor of St Mary’s University in Twickenham, London.
Cardinal Nichols’ appointment was confirmed last weekend, coming months after St Mary’s was granted full university status.
Reacting to news of his appointment, the cardinal said: “I am very pleased to accept the invitation of the university. St Mary’s enjoys a long and distinguished history and many generations of Catholic teachers have received the foundations of their service there. Among them I count my own father, Henry Nichols.
He added: “The recent granting of University status to St Mary’s is a sign of the further strengthening of Christian-inspired Higher Education in England and Wales.
Speaking on behalf of St Mary’s Board of Governors, Bishop Richard Moth said St Mary’s was honoured to welcome the cardinal to his new role. The appointment, he said, “underlines our long Catholic tradition which is at the heart of all we do”.
St Mary’s was established in 1850, the same year as the re-introduction of the Catholic hierarchy to England. From an initial six students in that year, St Mary’s University now claims a student body of some 6,000 at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.