Archbishop Peter Smith talks about the Apostles, the history of the Church and moving to Southwark

Full text of my interview with Archbishop Smith. I left out some sections because I was taking too long with transcribing. NB It is all pretty rough. If there are gramatical errors or spelling mistakes, please ignore them.

How does it feel to be coming home?

To be honest I have mixed feelings about it. I was well settled in Wales. It was a very sensitive situation when I first got there after the resignation of Archbishop Ward, so I got kind of parachuted in. It was quite difficult. But over the eight and a half years I’ve been there I’ve got to know the priests and the people. And they’re a great lot.

They’ve got a great faith and a great sense of humour. But I don’t think they could quite work me out as when I first came. They weren’t used to it I think. I’ll miss them an awful lot. It’s a much smaller diocese than this, not geographically but in terms of numbers which makes it easier for the bishop to get to know people. And the other thing when I went there was that there was virtually no relationship with the local media.

Archbishop Smith installed in Southwark

Archbishop Peter Smith, formerly of Cardiff, was installed in his old home diocese this afternoon. In his homily he addressed growing secularism, the challenges facing the Church, the abuse crisis, finally reminding Catholics to take heart.

There is an interview with Archbishop Smith in this Friday’s Catholic Herald, which is not to miss (even if I say so myself) and I will be posting the full transcript of the interview on the blog tomorrow.

A teaser for my  interview:
For a man who is about to be installed as the new Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith seems surprisingly relaxed. He whistles as he comes down the stairs in Archbishop’s House, his clerical collar is pushed to one side and the top buttons of his shirt are undone.

His parlour is impeccable, the books and DVDs tidily arranged in glass bookcases, and the only indicators of his recent move from Cardiff are some empty cardboard boxes outside the door and stacks of pictures that still need to be hung. He’s been working on the homily for his enthronement and preparing a talk that he is giving the day before to the Anglican directors of education in Warwick, a promise he made well before he heard the news of his appointment. Read more.

Over at Westminster Archdiocese, Patrick Daly has a full report on the enthronment ceremony.