Wiseman, Nicholas

views updated May 23 2018

Wiseman, Nicholas (1802–65). First cardinal-archbishop of Westminster. Born of Irish parents in Seville, Wiseman was educated in Co. Durham and at the English College, Rome, where he later became rector (1828–44) and titular bishop (1840). Pius IX sent Wiseman as pro-vicar-apostolic to the London district in 1848 and then (1850) appointed him cardinal, intending to restore the English catholic hierarchy with Wiseman as archbishop. So great was English resentment that Parliament passed the Ecclesiastical Titles Act (1851), prohibiting catholics from assuming episcopal territorial titles. Wiseman's moderation and sensitive administration assuaged suspicions; the Act was repealed (1871) without ever being invoked. Chiefly remembered for restoring the English hierarchy and placing ‘Roman catholics of England on the map’, Wiseman was also a linguist and scholar.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

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