Christian Saints & Early Church Fathers Codexery

John Henry Newman

English theologian and cardinal, leader of the Oxford Movement.

John Henry Newman

Herbert Rose Barraud · Public domain

John Henry Newman was an English theologian, academic, and poet who lived from 1801 to 1890.[1] Pope Francis approved his canonization on 13 October 2019, and Pope Leo XIV named him a Doctor of the Church in 2025.[2] Newman was a prominent leader of the Oxford Movement, a group of Anglicans aiming to restore Catholic beliefs and rituals to the Church of England, and in 1845 he left the Church of England to join the Catholic Church, being made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII.[3][4]

Quick Facts

Church
Catholic Church
Appointed
12 May 1879
Left office
11 August 1890
Predecessor
Tommaso Martinelli
Successor
Francis Aidan Gasquet
Other post
  • Fellow of Oriel College
  • Oxford
  • Provost of the Birmingham Oratory
Ordination
  • 13 June 1824 (Anglican deacon)
  • 29 May 1825 (Anglican priest)
  • 30 May 1847 (Catholic priest)
Rank
Cardinal deacon

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

At age 15, he converted to Evangelical Christianity, an event he later called "more certain than that I have hands or feet".[5] He studied at Trinity College, Oxford, and was elected a fellow at Oriel College in 1822.[6][7] Newman was ordained an Anglican deacon in 1824 and a priest in 1825.[8] In 1845, Newman left the Church of England and was received into the Catholic Church by Dominic Barberi.[4][9]

Newman was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879.[4] He wrote major works including the Apologia Pro Vita Sua and the Grammar of Assent.[10] Newman died on 11 August 1890.[1] John Henry Newman, the firstborn of three sons and three daughters, came into the world on 21 February 1801 in the City of London.[11]

After being ordained a priest in Rome by Cardinal Giacomo Filippo Fransoni, Newman returned to England as an Oratorian and eventually established a community in Edgbaston, Birmingham.[12]

What the cited sources add

A Vatican News article states that Pope Francis approved Newman's canonization after recognizing a second miracle involving a woman's life-threatening pregnancy.[13] Pope Leo XIV named Newman co-Patron of the Church's educational mission alongside Saint Thomas Aquinas.[14] The Tablet biography states Newman was baptized a few yards from the Bank of England.[15] Eamon Duffy writes that Newman, following his own explicit wish, was interred in the same grave as his follower Father Ambrose St John.[16]

Duffy recounts that when Newman's body was exhumed in preparation for beatification, those seeking relics found only some rusted metal pieces and the tassels from his hat.[16] Newman's Apologia states that at the age of fifteen he became firmly persuaded that the Pope was the Antichrist.[17]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gilley 2003, p. 201 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pope to Canonize Newman and Four Others on 13 October – Vatican News", www.vaticannews.va, 1 July 2019; Di Bussolo, "Pope Leo XIV: Newman, Doctor of the Church - A light for the new generations", Vatican News, 2025-11-01 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: John Henry, "Apologia Pro Vita Sua", 1864, p. Part 6, Article 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin 1990, p. 96–112 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Apologia, Chapter 1", Newmanreader.org; Gilley 2003, p. 201; Gilley 2003, p. 201; Hutton 1911, p. 517; Gilley 2003, p. 201; ; Gilley 2003, p. 201; Gilley 2003, p. 201; "Benedict XVI's Message to Newman Conference" , ZENIT, 22 November 2010. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutton 1911, p. 517; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutton 1911, p. 517 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ker 2009, p. 21; Martin 1990, p. 96–112 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutton 1911, p. 517; Gilley 2003, p. 201 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barry; Ker, "Newman and the Fullness of Christianity", Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology, February 1996, p. 118–119 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barry; "A Short Life of Cardinal Newman", The Tablet; Rev. Fr. Juan R. Velez, "Passion for Truth: The Life of John Henry Newman", TAN Books, December 2011, p. 16–21 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "John Henry Newman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hutton 1911, p. 517; Hutton 1911, p. 517 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Pope to Canonize Newman and Four Others on 13 October – Vatican News", www.vaticannews.va, 1 July 2019. facts only, no text reused. vaticannews.va
  14. Di Bussolo, "Pope Leo XIV: Newman, Doctor of the Church - A light for the new generations", Vatican News, 2025-11-01. facts only, no text reused. vaticannews.va
  15. "A Short Life of Cardinal Newman", The Tablet. facts only, no text reused. newmanreader.org
  16. Eamon Duffy "A Hero of the Church" . New York Times Review of Books, 23 December 2010; John Anthony Berry, "Il-Herqa ghall-Verità f'John Henry Newman (1801–1890. facts only, no text reused. nybooks.com
  17. "Apologia, Chapter 1", Newmanreader.org. facts only, no text reused. newmanreader.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article John Henry Newman (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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