By Jonathan Luxmoore
OSV News
OXFORD, England — British Catholics welcomed a papal decision to elevate St. John Henry Newman, a former Protestant and Oxford University chaplain, to the historic status of doctor of the universal church.
“This request has been before the Holy See for some time, having received declarations of support from many different parts of the world,” said Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
It is “of huge encouragement to all who appreciate not only his great learning but also his heroic sanctity in following the call of God in his journey of faith,” he said.
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints confirmed July 31 that Pope Leo XIV had accepted an “affirmative opinion” by cardinals and bishops that the 38th title of doctor of the church should be conferred on St. John Henry Newman (1801-1890).
In a statement, Cardinal Nichols said he was “delighted and thrilled” by the move, which would bring “great joy to all who strive to follow Christ today.”
The saint was an Anglican who came into full communion with the Catholic Church, became a cardinal and is known as the most influential English-speaking Catholic theologian of the 19th century.
Britain’s Oxford-based Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe also welcomed the “excellent news,” telling OSV News that Cardinal Newman’s thought had been a key influence at the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council, helping Catholics “understand how the church’s teaching on the mystery of God unfolds in history.”
Born in London in 1801, John Henry Newman was ordained an Anglican priest at Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral in 1825, serving as vicar of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford in 1828-1843 before becoming a Catholic at age 44.
His vast output, which included poetry, hymns and classic works such as his “Meditations and Devotions” and autobiographical “Apologia Pro Vita Sua,” as well as 32 volumes of letters and 250,000 folios of notes and reflections, has made him one of the Christian world’s most studied figures.