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Pope Leo XIV is providing one of Catholic Church’s highest honor for highly influential 19th-century St. John Henry Newman British Converts and theologians declared him a Doctor of the Church and presented him as a model for Catholic teachers.
Only 37 other people have been granted the title of “Doctor” in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Newman now joins the ranks of such monuments Christian Figures such as St. Augustine, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross.
The title recognizes Newman, who is the beloved of the two. English And the Catholic churches have universal appeal and have made a timeless, remarkable contribution to the understanding of Christianity.
A theologian and poet raised in the Church of England, Newman is best known for his writings and sermons on the development of doctrine, truth, and the nature of a university. He is admired by conservatives and progressives alike because he listened to the voice of his conscience at great personal cost when he decided to convert to Catholicism in 1845.
Leo was formally conferring the honor on Newman during a special Holy Year Mass for Catholic teachers and students on Saturday, during which he was also declaring Newman co-patron of Catholic education with St. Thomas Aquinas.
This was especially appropriate: it was Leo’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, who had made Newman a Catholic cardinal after his conversion, and it was Leo earlier who had declared Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and patron of Catholic learning.
Leo’s decision to present Newman as a model for Catholic teachers and students shows that Catholic teaching will be a priority for him going forward, especially as he emphasizes the ethical use of artificial intelligence for future generations. Earlier this week, Leo wrote a new document echoing Newman’s call for Catholic schools to be places for spiritual growth and community, and where the use of technology always puts human dignity front and center.
According to Vatican figures, the Catholic Church is one of the world’s leading players in education, operating more than 225,000 primary and secondary schools and enrolling about 2.5 million students in Catholic universities around the world. Leo was educated by the Augustinians, taught mathematics and physics, and is a member of the Augustinian religious order, which places particular emphasis on St. Augustine’s pursuit of truth and the command “Tolle, lege” (“Get up and read”).
A Model for the Information Age
The Rev. George Bowen, who oversaw Newman’s canonization and designation as a Doctor, said that Newman also faced the equivalent of the 19th-century Information Age, when inexpensive magazines were readily available and reading rates soared. Newman emphasized the need for a holistic liberal education that included Catholic theology, but also focused on relational ways of interaction between students and teachers in the pursuit of truth and knowledge.
“Suddenly, the world is inundated with information,” Bowen told reporters. “So Newman’s way of dealing with this vast ocean of knowledge and understanding it, taking a connected approach, is very, very relevant today.”
Newman was born in London in 1801 to an Anglican family and was ordained an Anglican priest in 1825, tasked with ministering to students at Oxford University. There, he and other friends started the Oxford Movement to counter the trend of religious liberalism in English universities and became known as a leading proponent of the “High Church” tradition.
When Newman moved from the Church of England to the Catholic Church in 1845, he lost friends, work, and even family ties, believing that the truth he was searching for could only be found in the Catholic faith.
An integrated personality fostered by Anglicans and Catholics
And yet, even today, he remains beloved in the Church of England, such that his hymns were sung in the Sistine Chapel last week when the King Charles III Prayed with Leo at the historic ecumenical service.
Several important Anglican leaders wrote to the Vatican supporting his designation as Church Doctor, and the Anglican Archbishop of York was invited to attend the Saturday service.
“Newman is a huge worldwide figure in the sense that his faith owes much to his upbringing in the Church of England,” Bowen said.
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