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Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP delivered the Keynote Address at last week’s diocesan School Leaders’ Conference in Ardingly. Speaking to Headteachers and School Leaders from across Surrey and Sussex, the internationally renowned theologian and writer reflected on the importance of imagination, hope, and the role of: “small acts of kindness which offer the beginning of a new world.”

Cardinal Timothy was born in London in 1945 and attended Worth School in West Sussex and Downside in Somerset, before continuing his education in Oxford and Paris. He joined the Dominican Order in 1965, was ordained a priest in 1971, and was created a Cardinal by Pope Francis in December 2024. Highlighting the importance of education and lifelong learning for social cohesion and human flourishing, the Cardinal said:

“At its best, study teaches us to engage with people that we disagree with; in a society plagued by isolation and separation this is fundamental. Study should open a delight in disagreement and debate; the joy of being wrong…

“I read every night before I go to bed, it stretches over my heart – ‘the expansion of the heart’ as St Thomas Aquinas said. I always ask people from other countries who their poets are, their best writers, so that I can imagine what their lives might be Iike… Once people imagine they can talk, and listen, they can expand their vision of the world.”

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Pope Francis launched the Synod on Synodality in 2021, with the themes Communion,Participation, and Mission. Later, in early 2023, the Pope appointed Fr Timothy (as he was then) to lead the preparatory retreat for the Synod on Synodality, and following this, to actively participate in Synod discussions taking place in Rome. Reflecting on the fruits of the Synod, the Cardinal said:

“At the heart of synodality is imagination; can you imagine why people have views that are different to your own? It is central to our belief as Christians - we can get stuck in arid disagreement, people on both sides may have had very different experiences… we need to be able to imagine what they have lived through [and…] what that person might be afraid of…

 “The radical individualism of the West risks making us blind to who we are. The Synod allowed us to learn from other cultures… none of us is solitary or private, we are given existence by God, our friends, and the people who love us.”

The Jubilee Year has provided Catholics around the world with an opportunity to foster a culture of encounter, campaign for and promote social justice, and affirm the theological virtue of hope as a gift from God. Exploring the theme of hope, Cardinal Timothy said:

“The least dramatic expression of hope is doing small deeds of kindness accomplished not for their consequences, but for their own sake - even if it looks like they won’t achieve anything. Small acts of kindness are pregnant with hope in ways we cannot imagine… When we get up, we must be alert to the small acts of kindness we can perform and that we may receive…

“Hope is the belief that, in the end, our lives will have meaning. We are ‘meaning seeking’ beings; our deepest humanity is nourished by the search for meaning… Teaching means we go on searching for the ‘why’, it prepares us for the moment of revelation, when we see the face of God and understand the fulfilment of our joy…

“When Judas betrayed Jesus, when Peter was about to deny him, when the disciples had runaway – at this darkest moment Jesus said: ‘This is my body, given to you’ this gift of utter vulnerability is made every time we celebrate the Eucharist. At the heart of the Eucharist, Jesus transforms betrayal into gift.”

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Speaking shortly after the Conference, which included the celebration of Mass, Julie Oldroyd, Director of the Diocesan Education Service said:

“Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe is an outstanding leader in the area of social justice. Appointed to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in 2024, he continues to contribute significantly to the life of the Church today, not least in Oxford, where he is an Honorary Doctor of Divinity. It was a great privilege to have him with us.”