Benedict XVI announces beatification of Newman
By Simon Caldwell

6 July 2009

Pope Benedict XVI has announced the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

The declaration means that the Anglican vicar who shocked Victorian England by converting to Catholicism will be given the title "Blessed".

It also puts Newman just one stage away from becoming the first English saint in about 40 years.

The Pope signed the decree authorising the beatification after Vatican medics and theologians finally approved the inexplicable healing of Jack Sullivan, an American "bent double" by a severe spinal condition, as a miracle which came about as a result of praying to Cardinal Newman.

His decision to beatify Cardinal Newman was welcomed by Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster and new leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

"I am delighted to learn this news, which will be warmly welcomed by Catholics around the world," Archbishop Nichols said.

"To have Cardinal Newman among the Blessed is an occasion of great thankfulness to the Lord and of great pride to those associated with him in Birmingham and in Oxford.

"I am sure he will help us greatly in the task of protecting the Faith amidst the difficulties he foresaw so clearly."

Fr Paul Chavasse, provost of the Birmingham Oratory, the church that Newman founded, said: "The prayers of Christ's faithful all over the world have now been answered.

"The Holy Father's decision is one of great significance for the whole Church.

"I pray that Newman, by the example of his life and the depth of his teaching, will be received as an authentic guide for Catholics everywhere.

"It is surely providential that the beatification of this great English theologian will occur in the pontificate of Benedict XVI, a major theologian in his own right whom Cardinal Newman has influenced profoundly."

The Catholic Church believes the prayers of people in heaven can help people on earth.

In the case of non-martyrs it looks for such physical healings as supernatural signs from God that a candidate is worthy of sainthood.

Cardinal Newman will be beatified during a solemn Mass within the next year and a second miracle will then be needed to recognise him as a saint.

When Gordon Brown visited the Vatican in February he invited Pope Benedict to Britain to perform the ceremony in person, possibly at Wembley Stadium.

But there have also been suggestions that the beatification should take place in St Peter's Square, Rome, because of Newman's international significance as a modern theologian.

Benedict XVI has been an admirer of the writings of Cardinal Newman since the 1940s, especially his "theology of conscience", and is keen to make him a saint and also a theological Doctor of the Church.

Newman was born in the City of London in 1801. He became a Church of England vicar and led the Oxford movement in the 1830s to draw Anglicans to their Catholic roots.

He converted to the Catholic faith at the age of 44 after a succession of clashes with Anglican bishops made him a virtual outcast from the Church of England.

He continually clashed with both Anglicans angry about his conversion and Catholics who suspected him of being "half-Protestant" but his brilliant intellect combined with his life of virtue won him his cardinal's red hat from Pope Leo XIII in 1879.

He died in his room at Oratory House, Birmingham, at the age of 89 years and more than 15,000 lined the streets for his funeral a week later.

His cause for sainthood was opened in 1958 and he was declared "Venerable" by Pope John Paul II in 1991 after it was established that he led a life of "heroic virtue".

A miracle was needed for the cause to progress further and this came on August 15 2001 when Sullivan, now 70, from Marshfield, Massachusetts, whose back condition was so severe that doctors feared he would be paralysed, prayed to Newman after he watched a television documentary about him.

He rapidly returned to full health and today spends much of his free time working in his garden.

Yesterday, Sullivan, a deacon who hopes to be on the altar during the beatification Mass, said: "Upon hearing of the recent developments in Rome regarding Cardinal Newman's cause for beatification, I was left with an intense sense of gratitude and thanksgiving to Almighty God and my intercessor Cardinal John Henry Newman.

"I have dedicated my vocation in praise of Cardinal Newman, who even now directs all my efforts."

As Newman's cause progressed the Vatican suggested that his remains be exhumed from a secluded cemetery in Rednal, Worcestershire, and moved to a marble tomb worthy of the status as a saint.

But undertakers who opened the grave last October found the body had completely decomposed.

If Newman's cause progresses swiftly he could become the first English saint since 1970 when Pope Paul VI canonised 40 martyrs of the Protestant Reformation.

The last British saint was St John Ogilvie, a Scottish Jesuit martyr, canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1976.

In Rome, Fr Edoardo Cerrato, the Procurator General of the Oratory, the order to which Newman belonged, said: "On behalf of the 82 houses of the Oratory of St Philip Neri, Newman's own congregation, I welcome this decision with joy and look forward to the ceremony of beatification with great anticipation."