‘Make more use of Newman,’ say British church experts

OXFORD, England (OSV News) — 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 evangelization.

“As a doctor of the universal church, St. John Henry is now forever associated with the church’s mission in education,” said Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham.

“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 center at Littlemore, Oxford, where he studied and prayed after resigning his posts at the nearby university and was received into the Catholic Church on Oct. 9, 1845, by Blessed Dominic Barberi, an Italian missionary priest.

In an OSV News interview, Archbishop Longley said Newman’s Nov. 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 told OSV News his elevation to major saint had also fueled 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 contributed to the “positio,” a final document on Newman compiled by 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 canonized 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.

Newman is credited with pioneering Oxford University’s renowned tutorial system, while his ideas on education, based on moral virtue and intellectual excellence, were set in “The Idea of a University” in 1873.

The saint’s “very significant contributions to the theory and practice of education” were praised in a Nov. 1 St. Peter’s Square homily by Pope Leo XIV, who said his legacy could help schools and universities become “gateways to a civilization of dialogue and peace,” as well as “laboratories of prophecy, where hope is lived.”

The Littlemore conference, in memory of Newman biographer Ian Ker (1942-2022), included a detailed account by the saint’s postulator, Oratory Father George Bowen, of the “huge effort of work and prayer” required for his proclamation as the first English church doctor since the eighth-century St. Bede the Venerable.

Father Bowen said problems had been posed by the “immense material” left by the saint, which included sermons, poetry, hymns and classic works, as well as 32 volumes of letters and diaries, and 250,000 folios of additional reflections.

The process had been expedited by digitization of St. Newman’s work at the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh, Father Bowen said, and by letters of support from Catholic bishops’ conferences and church institutions worldwide in 2023, as well as a key endorsement by Anglican leaders and personal backing from Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Saint’s Causes.

In an OSV News interview, Father Bowen said he was heartened by current signs of renewed interest in the Catholic faith, especially among young people, adding that school and university teachers could draw inspiration, with church help, from the saint’s comprehensive view of education as “bringing out the good in people.”

Meanwhile, Archbishop Longley predicted St. Newman’s new elevated position would encourage priestly vocations, adding that his parallel status as a patron of converts would foster a “broader sharing of the Catholic faith.”

“People are taking notice of St. John Henry Newman, significantly, in other faith communities, as well as beyond them where there’s a lack of faith,” the Birmingham-based archbishop told OSV News.

“When we consider the pre-Reformation roots of faith in our country, and the later Catholic experience of persecution and martyrdom, there’s a real sense today that our history is being completed in a growing recognition of the church’s abiding, unchanging message.”

As public interest grows in St. Newman’s work, Shrimpton, the Oxford expert, thinks Catholics everywhere should be aware of the new educational and evangelical opportunities.

“Newman is the only church doctor we can read in his original language, and we should be making greater efforts to appreciate his approach to practical concerns,” Shrimpton told OSV News.

“The whole Newman industry needs to be brought down to earth — with exhibitions, pamphlets and parish-level discussions. There’s work to be done in revealing not just Newman the great saint and thinker, but also Newman the man of action.”

Sister Mary-Birgit Dechant, who directs Littlemore’s International Center of Newman Friends, said many international groups have booked time to visit the college in 2026, buoyed by the growing interest in St. Newman’s intuitions, often expressed in simple terms.

“Newman was convinced he could best minister through personal contacts with people, and I think it’s our task as Catholics today to live the faith in happy, peaceful ways which others find attractive,” Sister Mary told OSV News.

“When there are so many divisions among Christians today, Newman reminds us of the clarity of Catholic doctrine, which offers a greater peace away from the endless disagreements which provide no help in life.”

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