Liverpool-born Cardinal Vincent Nichols returns to city for Mass

The Liverpool-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales returned to the city for a Mass to celebrate becoming a cardinal.

Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, 68, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in the first such appointments of his papacy in February.

The Mass was celebrated at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Cardinals are the most senior clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church below the Pope.

'Delight'

Cardinal Nichols said: "Coming home as a cardinal doesn't seem real yet, but it is.

"For me it's a great delight to come back to this wonderful cathedral and see so many people here."

The life-long Liverpool FC supporter was born in Crosby, Liverpool in 1945. He studied for the priesthood in Rome from 1963 to 1970 and was ordained in 1969.

His first role was as a parish priest in Wigan, where he was also a chaplain to a sixth-form college, before he then moved to work in Toxteth, Liverpool.

Cardinal Nichols is one of 19 new cardinals and will be eligible to elect future popes, until he reaches the age of 80.