WORLOCK, DEREK JOHN HARFORD

Roman Catholic archbishop of Liverpool; b. Feb. 4, 1920, London; d. Feb. 8, 1996, Liverpool. Worlock was the elder of twins; he also had an older brother, Peter, killed early in World War II. Both his father, Harford, and mother, Dora, were converts to Catholicism before their marriage in 1913; his extended family was largely Anglican. Dora was active in the Women's Suffrage Movement, while his father's career embraced journalism, the civil service and, from 1929, the post of agent for the Conservative party in Winchester. It was in Winchester that Worlock spent much of his childhood, being educated at an Anglican school, Winton House. He early decided he had a vocation for the priesthood, but his own bishop would not accept him because he was not of Irish descent. In January of 1934, he entered the seminary of the diocese of Westminster, St. Edmund's College, Ware. In the seminary he joined the Young Christian Workers after an initial rebuff because he was considered to be too middle class. He was ordained to the priesthood in Westminister Cathedral on June 3, 1944, being posted to a church in Kensington, London. In the summer of 1945 he was appointed undersecretary to the new archbishop of Westminster, Bernard griffin, becoming secretary two years later, and remaining in that post under subsequent archbishops until 1964.

The first part of Worlock's period as secretary involved him in a number of political issues. The Church had a considerable interest in the new education legislation introduced in 1944 and in the welfare reforms under the postwar Labour government. Worlock was a facilitator in the negotiations between the government and Archbishop Griffin. Griffin was also a vigorous campaigner on behalf of the oppressed churches of Eastern Europe, especially those of Poland. Worlock attended the Second vati can council first as secretary and later as a peritus with an especial interest in the lay apostolate. He helped to draft part of the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

In March of 1964 he was made parish priest in Stepney, in the East End in London. Just before setting out for the final session of Vatican II, he was told he had been appointed bishop of Portsmouth; he was consecrated on Dec. 21, 1965. The parish program for the implementation of Vatican II he had envisaged for Stepney he now transferred to a diocese with an emphasis on social action wherever possible, in collaboration with other churches. He was particularly concerned to see liturgical changes introduced, and he oversaw the reordering of the sanctuary of almost every church in his diocese. He served on the Vatican's Council for the Laity, and the Committee on the Family. He was regularly a member of the Synod of Bishops representing the Conference of Bishops of England and Wales, and he acted as the conference's liaison with the clergy when the National Conference of Priests was established. He also took a special interest in the creation of the Episcopal Conference's Media Office.

Upon the death of Cardinal Heenan in 1975, Worlock expected to be translated to Westminster, but instead was installed on March 16, 1976 as archbishop of Liverpool. His failure to be appointed to the (unofficial) primatial see rankled, yet Liverpool proved to be a great success. There he forged a powerful collaboration with the Anglican bishop, David Sheppard. It was in part because of their close liaison that it became possible to dissolve the British Council of Churches, which did not have Roman Catholic membership, and establish the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, which did. The two prelates were also active in attempting to moderate during the clashes between the people of Liverpool and the Conservative government during the early 1980s. Their collaboration produced two books: Better Together (1988) and With Hope in Our Hearts (1994).

Following a proposal by the National Conference of Priests, a National Pastoral Congress of English and Welsh Catholics took place in Liverpool in 1980. Archbishop Worlock was closely involved, from its inception to the writing of the final document and the response of the Episcopal Conference, The Easter People. Handing over this document to John Paul II, Worlock and Cardinal hume invited the pope to visit Britain. In 1981, just before the visit took place, Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Isles; the pope's visit still took place, largely due to Worlock's efforts. The negotiations led to considerable tension between himself and the more pro-war Hume.

Worlock's publications also include two anthologies: Take One at Bedtime (1962) and Turn and Turn Again (1971). His broadcasts on the English-language service of Vatican Radio appeared as English Bishops at the Council (1965) and his concern for implementing the council is reflected in Parish Councils: In or Out? (1974). He also published two other small books: Give Me Your Hand (1977) and Bread Upon the Waters (1991). For the Bible Reading Fellowship he produced with David Sheppard With Christ in the Wilderness (1990).

Bibliography: j. furnival and a. knowles, Archbishop Derek Worlock: His Personal Journey (London 1998). c. longley, The Worlock Archive (London 2000).

[m. walsh]