7 APRIL 2007, Page 26

Cormac’s slip

Sir: I am glad to hear (Letters, 31 March) that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor is full of ‘admiration’ for the Pope’s recent document on the Eucharist. Some of us wondered if the Cardinal shared the majority of his fellow cardinals’ admiration for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when they elected him Pope. At the press conference held immediately afterwards Cardinal MurphyO’Connor was asked why they had elected Cardinal Ratzinger, to which the Archbishop of Westminster replied, ‘They wanted him ...’ — before hastily correcting his reply to ‘We wanted him ...’. Millions heard the slip on television.

Father Ian Ker Oxford