Latest on Abbot Hugh

It's only fair of me, since I was one of the guilty party who fanned the flames, to douse them with the tears of embarrassment. The Tablet reports that Abbot Hugh Gilbert of Pluscarden Abbey has told his community that there is no truth in reports that he turned down the post of Archbishop of Westminster. He gave his assurance to the congregation, which included his monks, at Mass on the feast of the Epiphany, that he had neither accepted nor rejected the post of Archbishop of Westminster for the simple reason that he had never been offered it.

Last week a report published in newspapers and blogs claimed that Dom Hugh had been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to be Archbishop of Westminster but had “declined the post at the last minute”. Abbot Hugh, who is 56, told The Tablet that the story “is pure fiction”.