Cormac Meets "Common People"

This morning, the Pope received Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster for the private audience that's commandeered no shortage of buzz in the British press over recent weeks.

Believed to have indicated his desire to stand down in short order from the church's top post in England and Wales to the pontiff, the 76 year-old cardinal -- said to be considering a role with Tony Blair's newly-established interfaith foundation in retirement -- already has one big commitment lined up after an eventual handover: guest-reporting for BBC Radio's marquee morning programme.

According to the Beeb, the primate -- who likewise made news this week for an observation that religion in British society has come to be perceived as a "private eccentricity" -- will join the likes of Bono, Yoko, Citigroup chairman Win Bischoff and the Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker as a guest editor of Radio 4's Today show. No date for Murphy-O'Connor's appearance or the topics he'll be covering were announced.

Now, if you're expecting something of the sort to cross the Pond, don't hold your breath. That said, though, one of the small handful of Stateside A-listers who could pull it off (and, in his case, then some) marks his silver jubilee as a bishop this week.

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