Vatican City – On Wednesday, July 31, 2025, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. During the meeting, the Pontiff confirmed the positive opinion expressed by the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops of the Dicastery regarding the proposal to bestow upon Saint John Henry Newman the title of Doctor of the Universal Church.
A recognition that comes after a long journey of discernment, officially placing Newman among the few — yet essential — witnesses whose doctrine, united with a profound holiness of life, has durably enriched the faith of the Church.
Who was John Henry Newman?
Born in London on February 21, 1801, the eldest of six children, Newman was initially raised in the Anglican tradition. In his youth, he experienced a radical inner conversion that led him to seek the truth with all his being, even at the cost of questioning his religious and academic convictions.
His life changed dramatically when he became one of the leading figures of the Oxford Movement, a current that sought to recover the Catholic soul of Anglicanism. His preaching at St Mary’s, Oxford’s university church, made him a reference point for many young people in search of spiritual depth. In 1845, after years of study and reflection, Newman requested to be received into the Catholic Church, entrusting his first confession to an Italian Passionist priest, Father Dominic Barberi. He was ordained a priest in 1847 and founded the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Birmingham, bringing to England a form of common life that combined study, prayer, and mission. Despite the suspicions and misunderstandings that accompanied some of his works and positions, Newman never ceased to write, reflect, and defend the truth. His cardinalatial motto — “Cor ad cor loquitur”, “Heart speaks to heart” — summarizes his deeply personal and relational spirituality.
In 1879, he was made Cardinal by Leo XIII, and his reputation as a man of God and profound thinker spread beyond British borders. He died on August 11, 1890, at the Oratory in Birmingham.
The path to sainthood
The cause for canonization was opened in 1958. After the declaration of Venerable in 1991, a first miracle attributed to his intercession — the inexplicable healing of an American deacon — led to his beatification in 2010 by Benedict XVI during his apostolic journey to the United Kingdom.
A second miracle, the healing of a pregnant woman, led to canonization in 2019. Now, with the recognition of his luminous, balanced doctrine, capable of speaking to both the intellect and the heart, the Church welcomes him among the Doctors, offering his thought as a guide for today’s faithful.
The meaning of this proclamation
The title of Doctor of the Church is not an academic award but an ecclesial profession of spiritual and doctrinal authority. Newman — a man of thought, but also of prayer, a pastor of souls, yet an unresting seeker of truth — is now presented as a guide for the Christian people of our time. In an age marked by polarizations, fragile spiritualities, and often superficial thought, Newman shows that one can think rigorously and believe humbly.
In one of his most well-known writings, the Sermon on the Fitness of the Gospel to All Times, Newman declared: “A faith that does not think will soon cease to believe.” Perhaps this is the very core of his lesson to the Church: an intelligence of faith that never gives up the heart, and a heart that does not fear reason.
Fr.M.F.
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