Staff and pupils at St Mary's College are delighted that a former pupil of the school has been appointed as the new Archbishop of Westminster.  The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols - currently Archbishop of Birmingham - will take over next month from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The 63-year-old attended St Mary's from 1956 to 1963.  He was in the same year as two other famous old boys - media mogul and former BBC Director-General Lord John Birt and Sir Ivor Roberts, former British Ambassador to Italy and the current President of Trinity College Oxford.  Archbishop Nichols was one of eight pupils in his year who joined the priesthood or other holy orders on leaving St Mary's in 1963.  He was ordained as a priest in 1969 and served as General Secretary of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales before his appointment as an Auxiliary Bishop to Cardinal Hume in 1992.  He became Archbishop of Birmingham in 2000.

The current Principal, Michael Kennedy, commented: "Everyone at the school would like to congratulate Archbishop Nichols on his appointment. It's obviously a huge honour for St Mary's for one of our former pupils to occupy such a senior position.  Looking back at our records for what seems to have been a vintage year for the school, it's clear that the young Vincent Nichols was a very gifted pupil and regular prize-winner.  He would certainly have been Oxford or Cambridge bound had he not decided to become a priest". Mr Kennedy added: "The Archbishop has maintained his links with St Mary's and was the VIP guest at our annual prize day ceremony several years ago.  We look forward to the opportunity to welcome him back to the school in his new role in the future".

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