LONDON — Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the former Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster in England, died Friday after a battle with cancer. He was 85.

The current archbishop, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Murphy-O’Connor died “peacefully” surrounded by his family and friends. He had asked people to pray for Murphy-O’Connor in August because of worsening health problems.

“Please pray for the repose of his soul,” Nichols said Friday. “Pray, too, for his family, and those many friends and colleagues from the diocese and far beyond who mourn his loss.”

In a message written shortly before his death and posted on the Catholic Church website Friday, Murphy-O’Connor said he was “at peace and have no fear of what is to come.”

Murphy-O’Connor served as archbishop of Westminster, a position that made him the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, from March 2000 until his retirement in 2009. He had been living in west London when he was hospitalized last month.

A native of England, he was ordained in 1956 and recognized as a bishop and archbishop for his efforts to promote closer relations between his country’s Anglicans and Catholics.

His long career was marred by his role in transferring a priest who had confessed to abusing young boys. He was a bishop in 1985 when he moved Michael Hill into the chaplaincy at Gatwick Airport.

Hill was jailed in 2002 after pleading guilty to six offenses of indecent assault against three boys.

Murphy-O’Connor said he was deeply ashamed of the way he had handled the case and apologized to Hill’s victims. He said he had been “naive and ignorant” and guilty of making a “grave mistake.”

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