LONDON — Cardinal Vincent Nichols has paid tribute to the late British politician Ann Widdecombe, saying her profound Christian faith gave her a great sense of personal freedom that enabled her to fearlessly face every challenge.
In a July 13 message to members of The Catholic Writers’ Guild of England and Wales, the archbishop emeritus of Westminster noted “one particular gift and characteristic of this formidable woman: She was a person of great freedom. She was not afraid. Fear, or timidity, is often the enemy of freedom. But in her, freedom won over fear every time.”
A former government minister, MP, and MEP, Widdecombe was received into the Church in 1993 and became a tireless defender of the Church’s teaching in the public square. She was brutally slain at her home in Devon on July 8 in what police believe was a “targeted attack.”
Cardinal Nichols’ successor, Archbishop Richard Moth, prayed for the repose of her soul at Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday, 11 July.
In the early 1990s, Widdecombe was “Mistress of the Keys” — the person who effectively ran the Catholic writers’ guild. Cardinal Nichols is its current president.
Here below is the cardinal’s tribute in full:
The Catholic Writers’ Guild of England and Wales
A message from our President, His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols, on the death of Ann Widdecombe, former Mistress of the Keys:
Dear member of the Keys,
Many tributes have been written and given to the life and character of Ann Widdecombe, so brutally killed in her home last week. Beneath the shock of her death, ours is to pray consistently for the repose of her soul and for the comfort of her family and friends.
This is what I do. And in doing so I ponder one particular gift and characteristic of this formidable woman: She was a person of great freedom.
She was not afraid. Fear, or timidity, is often the enemy of freedom. But in her, freedom won over fear every time. She was ready to say what she held to be true. She was free to grant to others the freedom to say, in their turn, what they thought. She was ready to argue the toss in a measured and thoughtful manner. She was free to change her mind, her allegiance, when she thought it right to do so. She also had that personal freedom to enter into fun and enhance it with her joy in life.
But there is one more freedom that she possessed and expressed quite recently, I understand. When asked if she feared death her answer was ‘No’. And her reason was firm and unequivocal.
She had no fear of death because, as she said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
Ann was a woman of profound Christian faith which found its fullest expression in the Catholic Church. That was the source of her freedom. That was the foundation upon which she could face all challenges. That was the gift that shone most brightly in her remarkable life.
May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
+Cardinal Vincent Nichols
13 July 2026
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