Many are called but few are chosen. There are sayings of Christ which suggest that the Church he came to establish will always be a minority affair.

Margaret Thatcher once invited him to Chequers although Norman insists he is not a Thatcherite and says he is "appalled by the results of naked capitalism". Norman was educated at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow London. Norman lectured in history at the University of Cambridge; he is an emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse Cambridge and was Dean of Peterhouse for seventeen years and Dean and Chaplain at Christ Church College Canterbury and Professor of History at the University of York.

On 7 October 2012 he was received into the Catholic Church by way of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Norman lectured in history at the University of Cambridge; he is an emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse Cambridge and was Dean of Peterhouse for seventeen years and Dean and Chaplain at Christ Church College Canterbury and Professor of History at the University of York. Norman was educated at the Sir George Monoux Grammar School in Walthamstow London.