A note from the Holy See press room indicates that the title will soon be awarded to the Cardinal who lived in the 19th century, after Léon XIV confirmed the opinion of the plenary assembly of Cardinals and Bishops, members of the Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints.
Colosens and massinis – Cité Du Vatican
It is one of the great modern thinkers of Christianity, protagonist of a spiritual and human journey that marked the Church and the 19th century ecumenism, author of reflections and texts that show how to live faith is a daily dialogue “heart to heart “ with Christ. A life devoted with energy and passion to the Gospel – which culminated in 2019 with the canonization – which will soon be worth to the English Cardinal John Henry Newman the proclamation of Doctor of the Church.
The news was announced Thursday, July 31, by a press release from the Holy See press room, which reports that during the hearing granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the dicastery for the causes of the saints, Léon XIV “Confirmed the favorable opinion of the plenary session of cardinals and bishops, members of the dicastery for the causes of the saints, concerning the title of doctor of the Universal Church which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman”.
“Shadows and silhouettes to the truth”
“Guide me, sweet light; In darkness, guide me. The night is black, the house is far: guide me … your power has always blessed me; Even today, she will guide me through the marshes and the Landes, until the night vanished and dawn smiles on my way. ” John Henry Newman, born in 1801, is 32 years old when he returned to England after a long trip to Italy and this poignant prayer rises in his heart. For eight years, he has been an Anglican priest, but he is especially one of the brightest minds of his church. He is a man who fascinates by his words, pronounced and written.
His trip to Italy in 1832 amplifies his inner quest. John Henry Newman is animated by an ardent desire to know the depths of God, Its “sweet lightWho is the light of truth for him too. The truth about Christ, on the true nature of the Church, on the tradition of the first centuries, when the first fathers addressed a church which was not yet divided. Oxford, the center of propagation of his faith and the place where the future saint lives and works, becomes the path that moves him more and more from his convictions to bring him closer to Catholicism.
In 1845, in his Dogma development testhe distills the spiritual journey that produced this light so long in him in him, namely that the Catholic Church of his time is the same that has come out of the heart of Christ, it is the church of martyrs and ancient fathers, which like a tree has grown and developed during history. He then asked to become Catholic, which occurred on October 8, 1845, and later written by remembering this moment: “It was for me like entering a port after a stormy crossing. My happiness is without interruption ”.
The charm of Saint Philippe Néré
He returned to Italy in 1846 to enter as a simple seminarian – Lui, theologian and thinker of international renown – at the college of Propaganda Fide. “”It’s so wonderful to be hereHe notes. “”It’s like a dream, and yet so peaceful, so sure, so happy, as if I had always been part». On May 30, 1847, the circle of his vocation closed with his priestly ordination.
During these months, John Henry Newman is fascinated by the figure of Saint Philippe Néré – another, like him, “adoptedBy Rome – and when Pius Ix encourages him to return to his native country, John Henry founded an oratory dedicated to the saint to which he is bound by a beautiful propensity in good humor. A good humor that will not be marred by the various tests he will have to face over the years when the various works he undertakes in his country to root Catholicism seem not to succeed. His mind continues to produce brilliant texts to support and defend Catholicism, even when it is hard attacked. In 1879, Pope Léon XIII appointed him Cardinal. When he learns, he cries with joy: “The clouds fell forever ”. He continued his apostolate with the same intensity until August 11, 1890, the day of his death. On his grave, he only inscribes his name and a few words which summarize the extraordinary parable of his 89 years of life: ex Umbris and Imaginibus in Veritatem, “Shadows and figures to the truth ”.
“Heart to the heart”
Benoît XVI beatified him in 2010, recalling that this deeply pious man “Lived this deeply human vision of the priestly ministry in the dedicated concern of people (…) by visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the abandoned, taking care of those who were in prison”.
In 2019, Cardinal Newman was proclaimed saint by Pope Francis who, in the encyclical Loved us Explain why the English cardinal chose as a motto the sentence “Heart to heart talks“: Because, beyond all dialectics, the Lord saves us by speaking to our hearts from his heart. “”This same logic, says François, that for him, a great thinker, the place of the deepest meeting with himself and with the Lord was not reading or reflection, but the dialogue praying, from heart to heart, with the living and present Christ. This is why Newman found in the Eucharist the heart of Living Jesus, capable of liberating, giving meaning at every moment and instilling real peace to man. ”