Romana

The Thomas More Institute in London has inaugurated the “Thomas More Annual Lecture.” The first conference was given by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, on December 7th, in the Netherhall House auditorium. The Archbishop began by citing words of Benedict XVI in Westminster Hall on September 17, 2010: “religion is not a problem for legislators to solve but a vital contribution to the national conversation.”

Religion—mankind’s relationship with God—is a necessity of the soul, as St. Thomas More wrote: “Man cannot be separated from God, nor politics from morality.” Archbishop Nichols pointed out three ways in which religion in general, and the Catholic Church in particular, contributes to British society today: first, by solidifying the local community, a community that is both cohesive and open, inspired by universal values and respectful of particular needs; in second place, by helping in the search for the meaning of human life, for “like the environment, we human beings have an ecology that we must respect to survive”; and in third place, by assisting the poor and marginalized—for example, through the diocesan Caritas organization. During the conference (which was covered by the national press and by various Catholic and local media), the Archbishop reflected in a particular way on the significance of the human ecology suggested by Benedict XVI.