Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, canonized by Pope Francis, and now named Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV. This is the story of English cardinal St. John Henry Newman.
In 2019, he became the first English saint to be canonized in more than 300 years. It at that time that the Catholic bishops of the United Kingdom gathered and asked Pope Francis to grant him the title of Doctor of the Church.
FR. GEORGE BOWEN
Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
Interview with Fr. George Bowen
We thought to ourselves soon after the canonization…Well we went into lockdown. We got COVID. In 2020, everybody got COVID. But already we were talking in the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. It needs to start, the process needs to start somewhere. Somebody has to take ownership of the process, of making the petition to the Holy Father.
It started at that stage and it's sort of grown, really, basically because what's happened is that other bishops' conferences, we've been illiciting their support for the case.
And the fulfillment of that cause has now come. St. John Newman has become the first Doctor of the Church declared by Pope Leo. This acknowledges that his doctrine had a universal impact on the Church.
With this, the British cardinal joins the list of the 37 existing Doctors. Of these, four are women, such as Saint Catherine of Siena. His liturgical memorial is celebrated each October 9, the date on which he converted to Catholicism.
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