St. John Henry Newman

  Posted on November 9, 2020  by admin  No comments

Born: 21 February 1801 at London, England 

Died: 11 August 1890 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, England of pneumonia 

Beatified: Sunday 19 September 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, recognition celebrated at an outdoor Mass in Coventry, Diocese of Birmingham, England 

Canonized: on 12 February 2019 Pope Francis promulgated a decree of miracle obtained through the intercession of Blessed John• the miracle involved the healing of a pregnant American woman from an life-threatening condition hemorrhage and blood-clot 

Feast day: October 9

Educated at Ealing and Trinity College, Oxford. Chosen a fellow of Oriel College. Ordained an Anglican priest in 1824. Curate of Saint Clement’s, Oxford for two years. As he continued his studies he began to be influenced by Catholic writers. Vicar of Saint Mary’s in 1828. Resigned his position in 1832. Helped found and guide the Tractarian Movement beginning in 1833. His writings grew more and more in sympathy with Catholicism, and he was forced to resign his position at Saint Mary’s. He claimed that his philosophy was a via media (middle way) between Catholicism and Luthero-Calvinism, but he came to see that this idea was just a repetition of old heresies. In 1841 he lived in seclusion with friends at Littlemore, reading, studying, and praying. In 1845 he joined the Catholic Church. 

Ordained in Rome, Italy in 1846. Joined the Oratorians. Returned to England in 1847 where he lived in Maryvale, Cheadle, Saint Ann’s, Birminghan, and finally Edgbaston where he lived the bulk of his remaining 40 years. Founded the London Oratory. Influential writer on matters of theology, philosophy, and apologetics bringing hundreds into the Church; noted poet. Made an honorary fellow of Trinity College in 1878. Created cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII.