A senior Catholic priest has called for the late Cardinal Basil Hume, last Archbishop of Westminster but one, to be made a saint.

Father Michael Seed, the Franciscan friar who served as an adviser to Cardinal Hume until his death 10 years ago, called for the present Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, to write to the Holy See asking for a “cause” for his canonisation to be opened.

As Catholics gathered at Westminster tonight for a Requiem Mass to mark the 10th anniversary of Cardinal Hume’s death, Father Seed wrote in The Catholic Herald: “I firmly believe that Basil was a saint. I humbly ask that on this 10th anniversary, and given the extremely close relationship of Basil with Vincent Nichols, His Grace would formally write to the Holy See for the Cause to be opened.”

At the Mass, on the feast of St Basil the Less, Archbishop Nichols did not refer to any cause to make Cardinal Hume a saint but did describe his many saintly qualities.

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In his homily he said: “As we know, he had a compassionate heart. He was moved by poverty, hardship and, of course, injustice.”

He continued: “He had a rare gift of putting into words, for us all, the struggle involved in reaching out towards God. He helped us to understand that only occasionally will we catch a glimpse of God’s beauty and goodness, and that we are to live for the most part in hopeful trust, knowing that God is near, even if we do not easily or readily sense His presence.”

Among his achievements, Cardinal Hume encouraged work with young homeless people through the Society of St Vincent de Paul and in 1986 founded the Cardinal Hume Centre in Westminster for young people at risk. He was instrumental in the release of the Guildford Four (who were wrongly convicted of the 1974 IRA pub bombings, which killed five people and seriously injured 65).

Cathy Corcoran, director of the Cardinal Hume Centre, said: “Ten years on and his name is alive and well, far more than what you would expect. I don’t think he would have wanted to be canonised but he still has a tremendous presence for good in people’s lives.”

Luke Coppen, editor of The Catholic Herald, said: “When he died I had a strong feeling that he was a saint but as we have grown to know a bit more about him over the last 10 years, the whole picture seems a bit more complicated. It is clear he was a holy man, but I am not so sure whether he was quite a saint or not. The most important thing to get a cause started is that there has to be a cult. When he died there definitely was a cult. People used to go to his burial place in Westminster and leave flowers there and pray. It seemed to fall off after a few years, but if that were to revive there would be a good basis for the Church to look into opening a cause.”

But the conservative Catholic blogger Chris Gillibrand said: “Cardinal Hume is unlikely to be made a saint as he has no cult — like many of the saints canonised by Pope John Paul II. Many of the many saints made by this Pope will not stand the test of time as they lack any real cult.”

William Charles, Cardinal Hume’s nephew, whose book of reflections on his life, Basil Hume: Ten Years On, was published yesterday, said: “I do not think it [is] for me to express a view as to whether my uncle should be canonised. I believe firmly that God decides who is a saint. The family, though, like many others recognised him of course to be a holy man.”

Cardinal Hume’s biographer, Anthony Howard, said: “It has been proposed before that he be canonised. He was obviously a very good man who led a good life but I think that ten years [after his death] is a little early.”