Scottish Catholic Observer

The petition, addressed to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, is being organised by the historians whose efforts led to the king’s remains being found under a car park in Leicester.

Under present plans Richard III, who died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before the Reformation, will be buried at the Anglican cathedral in Leicester on March 26.

Philippa Langley, leader of the Looking for Richard project, said the burial should take into account Richard III’s Catholic Faith.

“It seems this former king and head of state is to be treated as a scientific specimen right up to and including the point at which he is laid in his coffin,” she said.

Dr John Ashdown-Hill, a historian who worked to identify the bones, has also called for a Catholic burial, saying: “There is a lot of evidence that Richard III had a very serious personal faith. If Richard III had not have died, maybe the Anglican church would never have existed.”

However, a joint statement by Leicester Cathedral and the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham said these concerns were ‘fundamentally misplaced.’

“There is no requirement in the Catholic tradition for prayers to be said at the coffining of human remains, including those of a monarch,” the statement said. “The arrangements agreed between the university and the cathedral have the full support of the Catholic Church.”

Ecumenical services will surround the event, with Cardinal Vincent Nichols preaching a service of compline on the day the king’s remains are received into the cathedral.

The cardinal will also celebrate a Requiem Mass the next day at a nearby Catholic parish.