 As Archbishop of Westminster, he became the spiritual head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.In defiance of the governmental law banning Eucharistic processions, Bourne gave the benediction from the loggia of Westminster Cathedral in 1908.He was created Cardinal-Priest of "S. Pudenziana" by Pope Pius X in the consistory of 27 November 1911, and was a cardinal elector in the conclaves of 1914 and again in 1922, which selected Popes Benedict XV and Pius XI respectively.