He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Liverpool in 1969. He was made an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster in 1991 taking the titular see of Othona, he became Archbishop of Birmingham in 2000 and in 2009 was made Archbishop of Westminster. The Crosby born prelate is 68 and therefore is a voting Cardinal in any conclave. As a keen supporter of Liverpool Football Cub, red would be his colour of choice!
The other Cardinals to be created in this first consistory of the Franciscan Pontificate are:
- Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State;
- Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops;
- Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Archbishop Beniamino Stella, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy;
- Archbishop Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano of Managua, Nicaragua;
- Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Québec;
- Archbishop Jean-Pierre Kutwa of Abidjan, Ivory Coast;
- Archbishop Orani João Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro;
- Archbishop Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Città della Pieve;
- Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli of Buenos Aires;
- Archbishop Andrew Yeom Soo jung of Seoul;
- Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello of Santiago de Chile;
- Archbishop Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
- Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato, Philippines;
- Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti.
He also appointed three non-voting cardinals who are over 80:
-Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla, former secretary to John XXIII,
-Emeritus Archbishop Fernando Sebastián Aguilar of Pamplona
-Archbishop Kelvin Edward Felix of Castries, Saint Lucia.
The consistory will be held on 22nd February 2014.