Every day, the newly appointed Archbishop, on completing his Divine Office, prays a prayer by Blessed Dominic Barberi: ‘I consider it should be held as a maxim that when God stirs the hearts of many to ask for any one thing, it is an evident sign that he wishes to grant it.’ He explains this special devotion to Blessed Dominic Barberi.

‘For a very long time now I have had a personal devotion to Blessed Dominic Barberi. Of course, you are aware of Blessed Dominic’s link with Stone in the north of the diocese which is so important. Some years ago I went to pray at his shrine, which is actually in St Helen’s in Lancashire in the Liverpool Archdiocese. I have visited the shrine and celebrated Mass and prayed there for the canonization of Blessed Dominic.

‘In the light of Cardinal Newman’s forthcoming beatification it is striking the way that he so appreciates Blessed Dominic’s priesthood and his whole priestly ministry. I think it is very humbling to see that Cardinal Newman, this great man who understood the Catholic faith and expressed it so well and indeed captured his own journey of faith so eloquently, values and esteems so highly the priesthood and ministry of the Italian priest Dominic Barberi. He put himself into Blessed Dominic’s hands and was received by him into full communion with the Catholic Church. 

‘Despite all the many amazing things that Newman achieved in his life, it is very humbling to see that for him, in that moment of reception into full communion with the Catholic Church, at the hands of Blessed Dominic, he discovered his own destiny and fulfilment. And in his forthcoming beatification, it is this closeness to Blessed Dominic and this association with the diocese that excites me most. It is as if these historical connections become a reality today.’

Bishop Bernard’s appointment has clearly taken him by surprise. He is full of gratitude to God and grateful especially for all the prayers and support he has received: ‘I have to say that I am immensely grateful for the many people that I have met in the last few days who have assured me of their prayers and especially those who have contacted me from the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It is so very heartening to know that there are people who have such a love for the Church in the diocese and who take such pride in its story to date, which I think is something I very much want to learn more about and to make part of my own story too. It is so very clear to me also that the people have a great affection for the bishops, priests, deacons and religious and their prayers are something I am so very grateful for.
‘For me it’s really significant to be coming to Birmingham this year because, on a personal level, I was very grateful that the announcement was made on the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux (1 October) and, providentially, at the very moment her relics were here in the UK and touring around. I was informed of the response to her relics at St Chad’s where over 11,000 people had been in to pray during those days and also in Coleshill.’

Bishop Bernard is a thoughtful and observant man. ‘When I went into St Chad’s Cathedral I was very struck not just by the beauty of the cathedral, but also by the fact that there were people there praying. It was a little time before the 12.15 pm Mass, and people were there sitting and kneeling quietly in prayer. The atmosphere of prayer here, knowing too that the relics of St Chad are here, and sensing that closeness throughout the centuries with the communion of saints, was a very moving moment for me.’

Bishop Bernard was born in Manchester on 5 April 1955. A musically gifted and academic boy he studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and New College, Oxford. He was ordained a priest for the diocese of Arundel and Brighton on 12 December 1981 and served as an assistant priest at St Joseph’s parish, Epsom, and as a chaplain to a psychiatric hospital. He brings a breadth of experience as an ecumenist, and was National Ecumenical Officer at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, as well as the Moderator of the Steering Committee of Churches together. He taught Dogmatic Theology at Wonersh Seminary for many years and was Assistant General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference for England and Wales with responsibilities for ecumenism and interfaith dialogue. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster on 4 January 2003 by Pope John Paul II, in which role he served until his recent appointment as Archbishop of Birmingham.

He is in no doubt that his priestly vocation was fostered within his family and home. ‘I was born in the centre of Manchester, the old St Mary’s hospital, right in the center of the city, opposite the Palace Theatre. My family are based in East Manchester; my father lives near to my sister in Bolton. I went to school in Manchester and the parish that I grew up in, St Vincent de Paul, dedicated to St Vincent, was where my faith took hold. The families there had their roots in Irish Catholicism and, although my own family name is an English name, there are Irish roots too, from Co. Armagh and Co. Mayo. I owe a great debt to the Irish. They came across to England in the 1880s when hardship brought them, like many Catholics, to Manchester, and they lived out their faith and passed it on, and that’s how it came into my family, on my father’s side. My mother’s family were all Anglicans, but gradually over the years my mother’s mother became a Catholic. It was a great joy to me when my mother became a Catholic a fortnight before I was ordained a priest. My parents were marvellous in supporting us in our faith and of course the parish, which was inner city and a very close-knit community, was where my faith was nurtured and grew. I have often thought how remarkable it is that within that setting you can experience everything of the universal Church, everything that the Church is was somehow contained in that little parish community. I think that this is something that our parishes have kept hold of and is certainly something that I’d like to appreciate and learn more about in the Archdiocese of Birmingham.’

Bishop Bernard is very keen to reach out to those who have for one reason or another lapsed or moved away from the faith. ‘I am aware, because I see it and experience it, that the traditional English and Irish family connection with the faith has loosened over the years, and I feel it would be important to find ways of supporting the parish ministry through clergy, priest, religious and people, to strengthen those contacts and to find ways of making people feel very much at home and welcome in church. I am sure that the parish communities across the Archdiocese are making these vital connections. This is something that I want to continue to encourage.’

Bishop Bernard has great concern and affection for the clergy of the diocese and sees the pastoral care and support of them as one of his major priorities. ‘The first service of the bishop to the people of the diocese is to care for their clergy. They are the first point of contact with the needs of the people, and the care and pastoral support of them is, as I say, of vital importance for me. I see it as one of my main priorities to come to know the priests of the diocese, through the auxiliary bishops and through the deans and through, of course, direct contact with them. I am looking forward to learning and knowing the parishes through the ministry of our priests.’

Bishop Bernard is very open and at ease talking about prayer and the life that sustains him as a Christian and as a bishop. ‘One of the things that I am looking forward to is being at home not only at Archbishop’s House but also in the chapel there. It will be such a blessing to have within my new home a place of prayer at the heart of the diocese, to try to listen to our Lord, through the Scriptures and in his Eucharistic presence, and to be quiet in his presence.
‘It is only in the quiet that we hear the Lord speak to us, and this is where I draw my strength and my own nourishment, my trust, my confidence, from that relationship that I have with the Lord. Nothing would have given me, I believe, that sense of peace which is at the deepest level I have felt since being asked to come to Birmingham. For sure I have felt anxiety at other levels and fears, not least in following in the footsteps of Archbishop Vincent. But I don’t think I would have felt that sense of peace, but for the knowledge that I can trust in the Lord, knowing that he is leading me to a place where he wants me to be. I know it won’t be easy. I have no illusions: there will be difficulties in the years ahead. But, day by day, I will be sustained by prayer in the presence of the Lord and will listen to his Word in that setting, in the Eucharist of course, but also through the Scriptures day by day.’

Music plays an important part in the new Archbishop’s life. He explains: ‘When I was at Oxford I was a choral scholar at New College. I enjoyed the polyphonies we sang there immensely. There was a lot of Catholic music from the Middle Ages and also from the Renaissance period. To be honest, I am fairly eclectic musically. I like the Beatles very much indeed and I am the right generation as I grew up in the sixties. As time has gone by, however, my musical tastes have changed and developed, and although I have held onto the things I loved from my past I have also become more open to music which at one time I would not have listened to.

‘A couple of years ago somebody introduced me to the music and lyrics of Leonard Cohen. I was fascinated by his lyrics. For example, there is one song where there is a refrain: “Ring out the bells that still can ring, forget the perfect sacrifice, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” I thought there is a real spiritual element in this in that we all have cracks and we all need the light to shine in, and of course, the light has to shine out as well.’

He enjoys walking in the countryside with friends and reading, as well as singing both as part of a choir and also with musical accompaniment. When he was in Westminster, his colleague Bishop Hope, a keen pianist, would accompany him. We gently chide him that the archdiocese would love to hear him sing. Rather than retreating from this suggestion, he seems rather keen: ‘I will have to think up something suitable – either in choir or singing songs with an accompaniment. I will have to find something that is relevant and appropriate for within the archdiocese!’

As we finish our interview, perhaps more than he will ever realize, people have indeed been praying that Bishop Bernard Longley would become the next Archbishop of Birmingham and perhaps it is just these prayers that have been answered. For in the words of Blessed Dominic Barberi: ‘I consider it should be held as a maxim that when God stirs the hearts of many to ask for any one thing, it is an evident sign that he wishes to grant it.’