The announcement from Pope Leo that St John Henry Newman will be declared a Doctor of the Church has been celebrated by church leaders. Finally, the saint is to be placed among the most revered teachers in the Catholic tradition. Even James Joyce said that no one has ever written prose like Newman’s.
Here in Ireland, this decision was met with joy, as Newman spent formative years following his conversion shaping Catholic higher education. Archbishop of Dublin Dermot Farrell recalled his foundational role as the first rector of the Catholic University of Ireland: “It was here in Dublin that he delivered the famous lectures on university education, later published as The Idea of a University.”
Similarly Fr Gary Chamberland, Director of the Notre Dame-Newman Centre in Dublin, said that the announcement came as no surprise to those who had been campaigning for this. It was about time.
“We are ecstatic at this coming appointment and looking forward to celebrating it in Dublin,” he said. “I think that Newman is one of the most important people in the 19th century. Across the board.”
Newman’s understanding of the development of doctrine, Fr Chamberland noted, shaped the very foundations of the Second Vatican Council. “For him, truth doesn’t change; our perspective does. It reflects a deepening understanding of truth, not a changing one.”
Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe, described Newman as “steeped in Scripture and the Fathers,” and praised his work on conscience, the laity, and the development of doctrine. “He was certainly ahead of his time,” said Bishop Monahan.
A convert to Catholicism, Newman gave up much for Truth. Sacrificing his position at Oxford, and always being the odd one out as a Catholic in England and an Englishman in Ireland.
Dr Michael Gilroy of the Newman Institute in Ballina called the announcement “a source of encouragement for all who seek to create parish communities that are inclusive and respectful.”
“Newman’s journey of faith and quest for the truth continues to inspire many to further explore their own faith,” Dr Gilroy said, “to discover the richness and meaning of their own baptismal call, and through prayerful reflection, study and pastoral action, to become active members and leaders within their own faith communities.”
As Fr Chamberland noted, he hopes this announcement will lead people to rediscover St John Henry Newman, a man who sacrificed so much in his pursuit of truth, and encounter him, as his motto invites, heart to heart.
