Early Life
Blessed John Henry Newman, soon to
be canonized a saint, was born in London in February 1801 into a religiously
erratic family. He received his first religious
education from his Calvinist mother, but he had two brothers, one of whom was a
deist and the other of whom professed atheism.
His own dedication to religion was not solidified until his teenage
years, when he took an earnest interest in Calvinist theology. As a youth, he was “[a]lways thoughtful, shy,
and affectionate,”[1] something of a mystic,
enjoyed studying the Scriptures even from his boyhood, and was imbued with an
impressive missionary zeal. He decided
at this early stage to lead a celibate life and was deeply interested in the
writings of the Church Fathers. At this
point, however, he also fostered a deep disgust of the Roman Catholic papacy.
Cardinal Newman’s life can be
divided into two almost equal halves: the period prior to his conversion and
that following his conversion.[2]
The First Chapter:
Anglicanism
As he set out to determine his
professional career, John Henry Newman originally intended to become a lawyer. However, as he gradually began separating
himself from Calvinism and finding himself drawn to Anglicanism, he decided to
give up law school and to take holy orders in the Anglican church. He felt himself particularly called to care
for souls through the ministries of preaching, instruction, and administration
of the sacraments. Newman personally began
assimilating various doctrines, including some Catholic ones: on baptism and tradition,
for example, as well as dominating Protestant ones regarding apostolic
succession and the philosophy of nominalism.
After his ordination on 13 June
1824, Newman began a preaching career that would last even into his conversion
to Catholicism years later. It is said
that his style was a unique one. He
spoke with reserve, yet was unafraid of using harshness to convey the truth, “without
eloquence or gesture…but with a thrilling earnestness and a knowledge of human
nature seldom equalled.”[3]
He also made a voyage to Rome around
this time in his life that would be an important part of his conversion to
Catholicism. His meeting with Cardinal
Wiseman there sparked a new fervor within him and was the beginning of his
poetic inspirations, including his famous poem-prayer “Lead Kindly Light” and a
poem prophesying the Church’s triumph and regaining of the glory of her former
days. He began approaching Catholicism
through his studies of the Church Fathers and to see Anglicanism as a middle
ground “at an equal distance from Rome and Geneva,”[4]
the birthplace of Calvinism. Newman took
on a less hostile approach to Catholicism, especially its doctrines, and
appreciated the strenuousness with which it opposed heresy. However, he was still put off by the
disturbing corruptions visible in the Catholic hierarchy – no doubt a stumbling
block for many, especially in modern times.
The Second Chapter:
Conversion
In 1841, after a falling out with
the Oxford community after a controversial tract he wrote, Newman and a handful
of his Oxford followers withdrew to monastic life to avoid the
controversy. At this point, he found
himself even closer to conversion to Catholicism, especially as he began to
look for an infallible guide in matters of faith and morals. That authority, as Newman learned, could only
be found in the Roman Catholic Church.
On 9 October 1845, he was baptized
into the church by another blessed, the Dominican priest[5]
Dominic Barberi, at the College of Littlemore.[6] Considering his distinguished place in the
academic and Anglican communities, it comes as no surprise that his conversion resulted
in backlash from many people: “[t]he event, although long in prospect,
irritated and distressed his countrymen, who did not forgive it until many
years had gone by.”[7] He and his writings were still suspect, both
by Anglicans and even by many of the Catholic hierarchy, until much later in
his life.[8]
Newman’s Writings as a
Catholic
After his conversion, Newman passed
to a new and glorious stage as an author.
The old writings, many of which had caused him such trouble, were
replaced by new ones widely received within the Catholic community. “‘When Newman made up his mind to join the
Church of Rome’, observes R. H. Hutton, ‘his genius bloomed out with a force
and freedom such as it never displayed in the Anglican communion.’”[9] Some of these eloquent works include his Lectures on Anglican Difficulties, which
were popular in his own time as he delivered them, novels Loss and Gain and Callista,
and sermons like The Second Spring. He also gave more lectures in defense of
Catholicism, often to an Oxford audience still angry at his conversion. When Newman was appointed by the Catholic
bishops to be director of a university experiment in Ireland, he wrote his
well-known works on education, including his Idea of a University, said to be “the best defence of Catholic
educational theories in any language….”[10]
One of the best things about Newman
was his lack of fear of addressing modern times and issues. “Of all Christians then living this great
genius had the deepest insight into the future….”[11] He was a prophet of the error of modernism, then
beginning to raise its ugly head, gave a lecture in Dublin on “A Form of
Infidelity of the Day,” and was one of the first of the era to speak against
the supposed incompatibility between science and theology.
Perhaps his greatest work is his
autobiography, Apologia pro Vita Sua,
written in response to the anti-Catholic writer Charles Kingsley and his attacks
against Newman, the Catholic priesthood, and truth itself. William Barry writes:
The soliloquy, as we may term it, which describes Newman’s
attitude since 1845, presents in a lofty view his apology, which is not a
surrender, to those Catholics who mistrusted him….[B]y the time he reached
them, Englishmen — who had read the successive chapters with breathless admiration
— were completely brought round. No
finer triumph of talent in the service of conscience has been put on
record. From that day the Catholic
religion may date its reentrance into the national literature….Instead of arid
polemics and technical arguments, a living soul had revealed its journey
towards the old faith wherein lay the charm that drew it on.[12]
Newman’s genius was at last
recognized by Rome. Though he was at
first distrusted by Roman prelates who misunderstood his writings, Leo XIII was
fully convinced of his good faith and elevated him to one of the highest ranks
in the Church: that of cardinal. Newman
saw this appointment as an immense honor, weeping with joy that his name had
been finally cleared of the suspicion against it. He proclaimed himself the stringent enemy of
the new error of liberalism, or religious indifference, that every religion is
of equal merit in God’s eyes. “Newman’s
elevation, hailed by the English nation and by Catholics everywhere with
unexampled enthusiasm…broke down the wall of partition between Rome and
England.”[13]
Newman’s Death and
Lasting Legacy
After a life that was marked by
difficulty and stress – as well as superior personal holiness – Cardinal John
Henry Newman died on 11 August 1890. His
motto had been the Latin phrase Cor ad
cor loquitor, heart speaks to heart, and “it reveals the secret of his
eloquence, unaffected, graceful, tender, and penetrating.”[14] William Barry calls Newman a “genius of the
first rank, with a deep spiritual temper, the whole manifesting itself in
language of perfect poise and rhythm, in energy such as often has created sects
or Churches, and in a personality no less winning than sensitive….” The impact that his writings have made upon
the Church over the decades since his death cannot be underestimated, for
Newman “upheld the ancient creed with a knowledge that only theologians
possess, a Shakespearean force of style, and a fervour worthy of the saints.”[15]
One of the most interesting facts
about Newman is that he was mentioned by name in two papal documents: first in
an encyclical by Pius IX, and later in a letter of Pope St. Pius X. Pius IX writes in Optime Noscitis that he believed Newman to be “blessed with such
wonderful gifts of mind and soul and endowed with piety, sound doctrine, and
zeal for the Catholic religion….”[16] And years after his death, St. Pius X would praise
Newman with the following words: “the writings of Cardinal Newman, far from
being in disagreement with Our Encyclical Letter Pascendi, are very much in harmony with it….Henry Newman pleaded
the cause of the Catholic faith in his prolific literary output so effectively
that his work was both highly beneficial to its citizens and greatly
appreciated by Our Predecessors…nothing can be found to bring any suspicion
about his faith….” And regarding the
modernist and liberalist charges against him: [W]hat the Modernists do is to
falsely and deceitfully take those words out of the whole context of what he
meant to say and twist them to suit their own meaning. We therefore
congratulate you for having, through your knowledge of all his writings,
brilliantly vindicated the memory of this eminently upright and wise man [Newman]
from injustice…let them understand his pure and whole principles, his lessons
and inspiration which they contain. They will learn many excellent things from
such a great teacher….”[17]
One of the best adulations given to
Newman was that he had the knowledge of a theologian, the eloquence of another
Shakespeare, and the devotion and holiness of a saint.[18] As the Church prepares for his canonization
later this year, may she beseech Blessed John Henry Newman for his heavenly
protection and guidance as she fights many of the same battles he faced, and may
his saintly life be an example for all.
[1]
William Barry, “John Henry Newman,” in The
Catholic Encyclopedia, ed. Kevin Knight, at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10794a.htm.
[2]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[3]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[4]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[5]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[6]
“The International Centre of Newman Friends at Littlemore Oxford,” at Newman
Friends International, at http://www.newmanfriendsinternational.org/en/the-international-centre-of-newman-friends-littlemore/.
[7]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[8]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[9]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[10]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[11]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[12]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[13]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[14]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[15]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
[16]
Pius IX, On the Proposed Catholic University of Ireland Optime Noscitis (20 March 1854), at http://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9optim1.htm.
[17]
Pius X, Letter to his Venerable Brother Edward Thomas Bishop of Limerick (10
March 1908), at http://www.newmanreader.org/canonization/popes/acta10mar08.html.
[18]
Barry, “John Henry Newman.”
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