Cardinal Basil Hume - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 58.144 W 001° 37.117
30U E 588429 N 6092222
This statue of Cardinal Basil Hume stands at the rear of St. Mary's Cathedral, facing the railway station.
Waymark Code: WMNHBR
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/17/2015
Views: 6
"Basil Hume OSB, OM (2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was a monk of the English Benedictine monastery of Ampleforth Abbey and for 13 years its abbot until his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster in 1976. His elevation to a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church followed during the same year.[1] From 1979 Hume served also as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He held these appointments until his death from cancer in 1999. His final resting place is at Westminster Cathedral in the Chapel of St Gregory and St Augustine.[2]
During his lifetime Hume received wide respect from the general public which went beyond the Catholic community.[3] Following his death, a statue of him in his monastic habit and wearing his abbatial cross was erected in his home town of Newcastle upon Tyne outside St Mary's Cathedral (opposite the Central railway Station), unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II.[4]"
link
The Statue
The bronze statue depict the Cardinal wearing a skull cap and monk's habit. It is in a small memorial garden opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, the year of her Golden Jubilee.
It is 9 feet high, sculpted by Nigel Boonham, and stands on a stone platform in the shape of Holy Island (Lindisfarne).
A nearby bronze plaque has the following information.
THE BASIL HUME MEMORIAL GARDEN
THIS STATUE AND MEMORIAL GARDEN WERE UNVEILED ON 7 MAY 2002 BY
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
IN THE YEAR OF HER MAJESTY'S GOLDEN JUBILEE
CARDINAL BASIL HULME OSB, 1923-1999, Benedictine monk and Abbot of Ambleforth,
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and a favourite son of Tyneside was born George Hume
in Newcastle, the city for which he retained a lifelong affection. This statue and gardens were
commissioned by the Council and people of Newcastle to celebrate Basil Hume's life and
work. The garden reflects Cardinal Hume's particular attachment for the holy landscape of
Northumbrai and the Northern Saints from which he drew spiritual inspiration. Featured are
the shapes of Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and Inner Farne, the remote island where the first
monk-bishops of Lindisfarne lived as hermits. The text is seventeenth-century Caedmon's
Hymn, the earliest Christian poem in Old English(Northumbrian); the translation was an
inspiration for the design of the garden. The boulders are from the shorelines of Holy Island
and Inner Farne; below is a stone from Ampleforth Abbey, Basil Hume's monastic home.
Statue and Memorial Garden designed by sculptor Nigel Boonham FRBS