News archive 2010

Opening of Year Service

28 Sep 2010, PR 205/10

The Opening of Year service will be held on Wednesday 29 September at 13.10 in the College’s Chapel at the Strand Campus. The service celebrates the start of the new academic year and the preacher will be the Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. The service is open to all.

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols was appointed the eleventh Archbishop of Westminster by Pope Benedict XVI on 3 April 2009, and was installed on 21 May 2009 following the retirement of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. He was elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales by unanimous acclamation on 30 April 2009. He received the Pallium in Rome from Pope Benedict XVI on 29 June 2009, the Feast of Saint Peter and Paul.

Born in Crosby, Liverpool, on 8 November 1945, Vincent Nichols studied for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome from 1963 to 1970, gaining licences in philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University. He was ordained priest in Rome in for the Archdiocese of Liverpool. He studied an MA degree in theology at Manchester University between 1970 and 1971. In 1971 he was appointed assistant priest in St Mary’s Parish, Wigan and chaplain to the Sixth Form College and St Peter’s High School. In 1974 he studied at Loyola University in Chicago and was awarded an M.Ed. In 1975 he was appointed to St Anne’s parish in Toxteth, Liverpool with particular responsibility for education.  In 2000, Bishop Nichols was appointed Archbishop of Birmingham.
 
The Revd Richard Burridge FKC, The Dean of King's College London & Professor of Biblical Interpretation, comments, ‘The Archbishop’s visit to us comes hot on the heels of the Pope’s visit to the UK, which included the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.We have asked the Archbishop to talk during his sermon on “The Idea of a University”, following Newman’s own writing on the subject, so this should be a very exciting event.’

The King's College London Chapel choir will lead the sung worship, and prayers will be led by the College Chaplaincy team.  Ryan Wain, the President of KCLSU, representing the student body, will give the first Bible reading (1 Corinthians 2: 1-7. 12-13), and Professor Rick Trainor, the Principal,  will give the second reading (John 16: 7-15). 



Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has nearly 23,000 students (of whom more than 8,600 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 5,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.



Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3202

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