Faith

Growing up Malcolm McMahon never dreamed that one day he could be in the running for one of the top jobs in the Catholic Church.

But bookmakers have made him one of the favourites to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor to become the next Archbishop of Westminster.

Bishop Malcolm has been resident at St Barnabas Catholic Cathedral for the last eight years.

"I think they would be daft to appoint me. I think they should leave it to the experts really."

Late starter

Bishop Malcolm joined the church relatively late in life.

He studied Mechanical Engineering in Manchester before getting a place on London Transport's graduate training programme. He says he's not a bus nutter but likes to know how things work. Then he decided to join the Dominican Order.

"I didn't feel totally driven. I just thought I would give it a go.

"Mum wasn't very happy. Her phrase at the time was 'why don't you become a proper priest'."

As a Dominican Friar he had to give up his material possessions and join a small community. He was content. He never dreamed of becoming a bishop.

"Somebody had mentioned it once and I thought they must be daft. We hadn't had a Dominican as a Bishop for... well, the last one died in 1470."    

Then one day he received a phone call out of the blue.  "'The Pope's made you Bishop of Nottingham'. Thanks very much."

Within a month he was ordained a Bishop looking after the parishes and priests in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Rutland.

Daily life involves morning prayers, mass, appointments, meetings and visits to his 113 parishes and 90 schools.

"I like to get the balance right otherwise I get fed up. I'm always behind with my letters."

In his free time he likes to listen to live music at the Lakeside and Opera North at the Theatre Royal but also admits to being a fan of Nora Jones.

He enjoys eating out at one of his two favourite restaurants in Nottingham, Turkish restaurant Antalya and Dolche, an Italian opposite the Broadway Cinema, which he also likes to frequent.

The Bishop is also one of a dozen clerics who play golf at Hollinwell every Tuesday.

"My golf's hopeless but I do it for the fresh air, the fun and the company."

Extended interview with the Bishop of Nottingham

Bishop Malcolm McMahon has been speaking to BBC Radio Nottingham's Sunday Breakfast Show presenter Sarah Julian.

In our extended interview Bishop Malcolm tells Sarah why he doesn't really want to be the Archbishop of Westminster, what the biggest challenges to the Catholic church are, why he believes we need to do more to promote family life and offers up a piece of wisdom to help us in our daily lives.