Pope Leo XIV will name St John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education in a document to be published next week for the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on Christian education. Source: CNA.
On October 28, the Pope will designate Newman as an official co-patron saint of education, together with St Thomas Aquinas, during the Vatican’s Jubilee of the World of Education from October 27 to November 1, which is expected to draw 20,000 pilgrims.
The saint will also be declared the 38th doctor of the Church by Leo at the jubilee’s closing Mass on November 1, the solemnity of All Saints.
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, the prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, announced the upcoming designation during a press conference yesterday.
St John Henry Newman, Cardinal de Mendonça said, is an “extraordinary educator and great inspiration for the philosophy of education”.
The Pope will also publish a document on October 28 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis.
Pope Leo’s document will “reflect on the topicality of the declaration and on the challenges that education must confront today, in particular the Catholic schools and universities,” Cardinal de Mendonça said.
Gravissiumum Educationis, the cardinal said, is a “fundamental document with a strong impact on the contemporary vision of education. The document had a fundamental role in and outside of the Church, and it should be recognised”.
In addition to reaffirming the universal right to education, the Vatican II declaration marked “an important change in the language, that is, the mentality, for speaking about school, not in terms of institutions but rather in terms of educational communities,” he added.
The cardinal quoted at length from the Pope’s document to be published on October 28, which says that Gravissimum Educationis “has lost none of its bite” since its publication.
“Today’s expectations are no less than those the Church faced 60 years ago. Indeed, they have expanded and become more complex. … History challenges us with new urgency,” Pope Leo writes.
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Pope Leo XIV to name St John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education (By Hannah Brockhaus, CNA)
