St John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church

This morning the Pope formally declared in a Mass for All Saints Day, and at the close of the Jubilee for Catholic Education, that St John Henry Newman is the thirty eighth Doctor of the Church and has been also designated as the co-patron of Catholic Education alongside St Thomas Aquinas.

These further honours for St John Henry have followed swiftly upon his beatification and canonisation. They indicate that his significance and role does indeed extend to the Universal Church, the “one true fold of  the Redeemer” into which he was received at Littlemore in 1845. He is not just a saint for the English or the English-speaking world, but for the whole Catholic community across the globe. 

I first became aware of Newman as a schoolboy and as I grew into an Anglo-Catholic before going to Oxford to one of the two colleges of which he was a member. Through my time at Oriel and at first Pusey House and then also at St Thomas’ he seemed somehow to accompany me. Eventually, rather like him, I came to see that I was called into the unity that is Catholicism, and was received at the Oxford Oratory. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend his beatification in Birmingham in 2010, and to have also visited his room and library at the Birmingham Oratory and the new shrine for him there on several occasions

From what I have read of his vast output as theologian, apologist, historian, novelist and letter writer I can sense his profundity, but also his lightness of touch as a pastor and counsellor, and his great wisdom. I should read more of his works and revisit some of his most famous works - and would urge others to do so.

A friend shared with me yesterday an excellent video made just over a decade ago by Fr Nicholas Schofield and Fr Marcus Holden about St John Henry. It is informative and balanced, and filmed in many of the places that Newman one would have known. It also includes interviews with people I knew in Oxford and who bring expertise and insight into recounting his life.

The video can be seen at Lead Kindly Light: The Life and Message of John Henry Newman (1801-1890)