Pope Francis reportedly is ready to confirm that Cardinal John Henry Newman will be declared a saint next year.
He will be the first Briton from modern times to be canonized. Newman was instrumental in the revival of Roman Catholicism in England.
The final step in the quest to canonize Newman, who lived during the reign of Queen Victoria, was to find miracles attributed to him. The Vatican has recognized a second miracle attributed to him after prayers on behalf of a pregnant Chicago woman facing life-threatening complications.
Newman, born in 1801 as the son of a London banker, was a priest of the Church of England before he converted in 1845. He recorded his faith journey to Rome in Apologia Pro Vita Sua, published two decades later.
Newman was a formidable theologian who wrote several much-loved hymns, and was made a cardinal in 1879. He lived in Birmingham for 40 years. More than 15,000 lined the streets for his funeral in 1890.
John Martin
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
