Blessed John Henry Newman: a modern Father of the Church

Columban Father Colm McKeating is a specialist on the life and writings of Newman who has been teaching theology in Manila, Philippines, for almost forty years. This article appeared in Far East, the magazine of the Columbans in Britain and Ireland.

Pope Benedict beneath an image of Cardinal Newman as the Mass for beatifaction starts

The beatification of Cardinal Newman on September 19 is to be the climax of the Pope's four-day visit to Britain. The fact that it is to take place during what is a State Visit and not just a Pastoral one, adds significance to the event. It means that the whole nation, Church and State, is paying tribute to one of its sons, an eminent Victorian. It also has an ecumenical significance that strengthens the common bond of Christian faith which Newman did so much to foster. He is a bridge between the Anglican and Catholic Churches, a figure held in affection by both traditions despite the sad parting of friends when he became a Catholic. Both of them acknowledge the seminal importance of Newman first in the revival of the Anglican Communion in the 19th century and later in the Catholic renewal of Vatican II.

Pope Benedict at Cofton Park, Birmingham before the Mass for the beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman

Newman's early life

John Henry Newman was born in London on 21st February 1801 and died on 11th August 1890. He was the eldest of six children of John Newman, a City banker and Jemima Foudrinier, the daughter of a papermaker. After private boarding school at Ealing, he entered Trinity College Oxford at the age of sixteen. In April 1822 John Henry was elected a fellow of Oriel College, an event he described as the most memorable day of his life. This set the direction of his future career and eventually put an end to the dream he had of being a missionary. He was at that time secretary of the Oxford branch of the evangelical inspired Church Missionary Society. After taking holy orders in 1824 he had his first assignment as curate to St. Clement's parish in Oxford. In March 1828 he became Vicar of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, an office he held with distinction until his resignation in 1843.

Pope Benedict at Cofton Park

In July 1833 Newman joined and led what came to be known as the Oxford Movement whose goal was the renewal of the Anglican Church on Catholic principles. The Movement reached a crisis in 1841 with the publication of Tract 90 in which Newman argued the case for a fully Catholic interpretation of the 39 Articles of the Church of England. He then withdrew to the neighbouring village of Littlemore where he had built a chapel in 1836. There in the course of writing his Essay on the Development of Doctrine he decided to join the Roman Catholic Church and was received by Fr. Dominic Barberi in October 1845. On becoming a Catholic he felt that "it was like coming in to port after a rough sea." Newman's life as a Catholic was a relatively quiet time of pastoral activity at the Oratory in Birmingham, which he founded in 1848. It was punctuated, however, by times of trial and misunderstanding. His attempt to lay the foundations of a Catholic University of Ireland between the years 1852-1858 was at great personal cost and ended in failure.

The beatification Mass. Image of Cardinal Newman on the left

However, his Apologia pro Vita Sua in 1864 had a happier outcome with the successful defence of his integrity as a priest against the false accusations of Charles Kingsley. In 1879 Newman was called to Rome by Leo XIII to receive the red hat of Cardinal, an honour he regarded as conferring approval on his life's work. Eleven years later, he died peacefully at Rednal, Birmingham, with the fitting epitaph over his grave: ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem (out of shades and shadows into the light of truth.)

A search fro truth and holiness

A key to an understanding of Newman is found in his religious conversion at the age of fifteen. In this truly momentous experience he came to "rest in the thought of two and two only supreme and luminously selfevident beings, myself and my Creator." This is the foundation, the core of his being on which all subsequent intellectual and moral development is built. Though this conversion was not strictly speaking an evangelical one, it was decisively marked by the unique clarity and creed of John Calvin.

Newman's whole life was directed by the search for truth and holiness. In every event and circumstance he asked himself the simple but complex question: is this particular thing true? Is it real? Does it lead to holiness? If it is true then it must be acted upon - "life is for action" he said. "If we insist on proofs for everything, we shall never come to action: to act you must assume and that assumption is faith." Newman sought the truth wherever it led and whatever the cost. Conscience was the guiding light which he saw as the primary, Godgiven way to seek and find the truth. Obedience to conscience was the supreme rule of life and one in which he found assurance and reliance on God's mercy. Though he was always loyal to his friends and commitments he would propose a toast to conscience first before allegiance to any other authority.

Holiness for Newman was the mark of life in the Church; it was the true test of her credibility. The Church's reason for being was to produce men and women noted for their sanctity – this was its fundamental role in God's design. The Church may not be one because of division, it may not be fully catholic and apostolic and yet despite these notes it could still survive. But if the note of holiness was absent in the Church her very life would cease and she would fail not just in this or that respect but totally. With such conviction Newman longed to be counted among the company of the saints, though he would be the first to disclaim any right to such an honour.

The evidence of a holy life

The miracle of Newman is the moral miracle of his influence for good in the Church. By his teaching and example he has transformed the lives of countless men and women, strengthened their faith, renewed their hope and deepened their love for others. One such example of the power of Newman's influence can be found in the life of Mother Mary Theophane, a former Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban. While on official visitation to China in the 1930s she came across a book of Newman's prayers and meditations which gave her such comfort and encouragement on the journey that she wrote to the Birmingham Oratory to express her gratitude and great joy in discovering Newman. Her letters were among the thousands of similar testimonies that were presented in a dossier of 8,000 pages to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints as part of the process of beatification. John Henry Newman now enjoys the "safe lodging and holy rest" he earnestly prayed for.