A Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated with those who support and are supported by the work of the Cardinal Hume Centre, marking the 15th anniversary of its founder’s death.
In his homily, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham described the late Cardinal Basil Hume’s ability “to awaken a sense of worth and belonging in those whom he met.”
He said that Cardinal Hume had an instinct “to notice what was happening around him” and to look “beyond the surface sometimes in an alarmingly perceptive way.”
He attributed something of the Centre’s existence “to the Cardinal’s ability to see what was happening around his own home and Cathedral.”
The Cardinal Hume Centre was established in South Westminster in 1986 to care for young homeless people.
Archbishop Longley, formerly auxiliary bishop of Westminster, added that although the “times and needs may have changed” since the opening of the center, the “desire to respond to the Gospel has always found an authentic expression in what happens here.”
He concluded by offering thanks for the late Cardinal’s “insight into human need, and especially the need at his own doorstep.”
This insight, he said “has enabled so many young people and families to embrace a new hope and to catch a glimpse of the peace and joy of God’s Kingdom.”
