The head of the English archdiocese where St John Henry Newman lived and worked has joined in appeals for the saint’s teachings to be used more imaginatively in education and evangelisation. Source: OSV News.
“As a doctor of the universal Church, St John Henry is now forever associated with the Church’s mission in education,” Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham said.
“His personal journey, led by the Holy Spirit, can encourage others to think about their own path towards the truth and how it may be reflected through life in the Catholic Church,” he said.
The archbishop spoke at a pre-Christmas conference at Newman’s former centre at Littlemore, Oxford, where he studied and prayed after resigning his posts at the nearby university and was received into the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845, by Blessed Dominic Barberi, an Italian missionary priest.
Archbishop Longley said St Newman’s November 1 proclamation as 38th doctor of the Church and co-patron of Catholic education with St Thomas Aquinas had been received as a “tremendous gift” by local Catholics, who now felt “challenged” to live up to the saint’s international legacy.
Meanwhile, an Oxford-based expert on St Newman’s educational theories said his elevation to major saint had also fuelled interest in his more practical achievements.
“Newman can’t receive any more accolades — there aren’t any more to get. But we should see this as the start of a process of absorbing his vision and viewing the world through a Newman lens,” said Paul Shrimpton, who helped prepare a summary, or positio, on the saint, submitted to Rome in December 2024.
“As a man of the modern age, Newman doesn’t just defend Christianity, but also explains why the alternatives are seriously deficient. In all his inter-linked areas of insight, he offers endless answers for the Church to draw on.”
Born in London, St Newman (1801-1890) studied at Oxford’s Trinity College in 1816-1822, later co-founding the reformist Oxford Movement while serving as vicar of St Mary the Virgin’s university Church.
Made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII, St Newman became the first English non-martyr saint for six centuries when canonised in October 2019.
Among many educational achievements, the saint founded the Catholic University of Ireland (now University College Dublin) and Oratory School in Birmingham, and has given his name to a university in Birmingham and numerous colleges worldwide.
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‘Make more use of Newman,’ say British Church experts (By Jonathan Luxmoore, OSV News)
