St. John Henry Newman has officially received the title of Doctor of the Church, an announcement made following Pope Leo XIV’s meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro on July 31 — www.naijnaira.com reports.
According to OSV News, the decision confirms the recommendation made by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and approved by Pope Leo following a plenary session with cardinals and bishops.
Newman becomes the 38th saint to receive this title, joining figures such as St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Hildegard of Bingen.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had backed the proposal as early as 2023, aligning with a request by the bishops of England and Wales.
Bishop Daniel Flores noted that Newman’s work addresses core themes like doctrine, moral theology, conscience, and lay involvement in church life.
Born in 1801 in London to an Anglican family, Newman’s religious journey began early, with a deep personal reflection recorded in his autobiography, Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
“I rested in the thought of two beings only—myself and my Creator,” he wrote, describing a turning point at age 15.
After evangelical exposure during school and theological training at Oxford, Newman was ordained an Anglican priest in 1825.
His passion for theology clashed with academic expectations, pushing him toward the writings of early Church Fathers.
He left Oxford following theological disagreements and relocated to Littlemore, where he pursued a quieter life of study and prayer.
In 1845, he formally joined the Catholic Church after writing Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, which argued that doctrinal evolution was both natural and necessary.
“Here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often,” he wrote.
Newman’s Catholic conversion came at a high personal cost—loss of career, friends, and family ties—but brought him peace.
After ordination as a Catholic priest in 1847, he established the first English Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Birmingham.
He also played a central role in founding the Catholic University of Ireland, which later became University College Dublin.
Though admired for his intellect, Newman faced skepticism from both sides—some Catholics doubted his sincerity, while Anglicans accused him of betrayal.
In 1864, he published his Apologia, seeking to clarify his convictions and quell the doubts surrounding his religious shift.
He declined a role at the First Vatican Council to finish The Grammar of Assent, focusing on how belief is formed and held.
In 1874, Newman publicly challenged Prime Minister Gladstone’s claims that Catholics were loyal only to the Pope, calling it a “deep injustice.”
Three years later, Oxford’s Trinity College awarded him an honorary fellowship—the first ever granted by the institution.
In 1879, Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal but honored his request to stay in Birmingham rather than take on bishop duties.
Reflecting on sin and grace in his final years, Newman wrote that God “enters into the heart of man, and persuades it, and prevails with it.”
He died in 1890 at the age of 89 and was canonized in 2019 by Pope Francis.
Article updated 3 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
