St John Henry Newman - tapestry hanging from the facade of St Peter's Basilica for his canonization in 2019
St John Henry Newman set to become newest Doctor of the
Church
Pope Leo paves the way for St John Henry Newman to be
formally declared a “Doctor of the Church”.
By Alessandro De Carolis
One of the great modern thinkers of Christianity, a key
figure in a spiritual and human journey that left a profound mark on the Church
and 19th-century ecumenism, and the author of writings that show how living the
faith is a daily “heart-to-heart” dialogue with Christ. A life spent with
energy and passion for the Gospel—culminating in his canonization in 2019—that
will soon lead to the English cardinal John Henry Newman being proclaimed a
Doctor of the Church.
The news was announced today, July 31, in a statement from
the Holy See Press Office, which reported that during an audience granted to
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints,
Pope Leo XIV has “confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of
Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints,
regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be
conferred on Saint John Henry Newman.”
“From Shadows and Images into the Truth”
“Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on.
The night is dark, and I am far from home—
Lead Thou me on…
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.”
John Henry Newman was 32 years old when this poignant prayer
rose from his heart during his return to England after a long journey through
Italy. Born in 1801, he had already been an Anglican priest for eight years and
was widely recognized as one of the most brilliant minds in his church—a man
who captivated with both spoken and written word.
The 1832 trip to Italy deepened his inner search. Newman
carried within him a thirst to know the depths of God, His “kindly Light,”
which for him was also the light of Truth—truth about Christ, the true nature
of the Church, and the tradition of the early centuries, when the Church
Fathers spoke to a still undivided Church. Oxford—epicenter of his faith and
the place where the future saint lived and worked—became the road along which
his convictions gradually shifted toward Catholicism.
In 1845, he distilled his spiritual journey into the Essay
on the Development of Christian Doctrine, the fruit of a long pursuit of
that Light, which he came to recognize in the Catholic Church—a Church he saw
as the very one born from the heart of Christ, the Church of the martyrs and
the ancient Fathers, which, like a tree, had grown and developed through
history. Soon after, he asked to be received into the Catholic Church, which
took place on October 8, 1845. He later wrote of that moment: “It was like
coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on that score remains to
this day without interruption.”
Devoted to Saint Philip Neri
In 1846, he returned to Italy to enter, as a humble
seminarian—despite being a theologian and thinker of international renown—the
Collegio di Propaganda Fide. “It is so wonderful to be here,” he wrote. “It is
like a dream, and yet so calm, so secure, so happy, as if it were the
fulfilment of a long hope, and the beginning of a new life.” On May 30, 1847,
the circle of his vocation was completed with his ordination to the priesthood.
During these months, Newman was deeply drawn to the figure
of St. Philip Neri—another soul, like himself, “adopted” by Rome. When Blessed
Pope Pius IX encouraged him to return to England, Newman went on to found an
Oratory there, dedicated to the saint with whom he shared a joyful disposition.
That good humor remained intact even through the many challenges he faced in
establishing Catholic institutions in his homeland, many of which seemed at
first to falter. Still, his mind continued to produce brilliant writings in
defense and support of Catholicism—even under fierce attack.
In 1879, Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal. Upon hearing the
news, Newman wept with joy: “The cloud is lifted forever.” He continued his
apostolic work with undiminished intensity until his death on August 11, 1890.
On his tomb, he asked that only his name and a brief phrase be inscribed, one
that encapsulates the extraordinary arc of his 89 years of life: Ex
umbris et imaginibus in Veritatem, “From shadows and images into the
Truth.”
Benedict XVI beatified him in 2010, honoring a man of deep
prayer who, in the Pope’s words, “lived out that profoundly human vision of
priestly ministry in his devoted care” for people: “visiting the sick and the
poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison.
'Cor ad cor loquitur'
Newman was canonized in 2019 by Pope Francis, who, in the
encyclical Dilexit nos, explained why the English cardinal had
chosen as his motto the phrase Cor ad cor loquitur—“Heart speaks to
heart.” Because, the Pope noted, beyond any dialectical argument, the Lord
saves us by speaking from His heart to ours: “This realization led him, the
distinguished intellectual, to recognize that his deepest encounter with
himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection, but from his
prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present. It was in
the Eucharist that Newman encountered the living heart of Jesus, capable of
setting us free, giving meaning to each moment of our lives, and bestowing true
peace.”
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