John Henry Newman to receive one of Catholic Church's highest honours

Pope Leo XIV has decided to declare St. John Henry Newman a ‘doctor’ of the church, bestowing one of the Catholic Church’s highest honors.

John Henry Newman was an undergraduate and scholar of Trinity from 1816–22, and Trinity’s first Honorary Fellow, elected in 1877. A theologian and poet, Newman is a significant figure in the religious history of 19th century England; his role in the Oxford Movement of Anglicans (who hoped to return many pre-Reformation Catholic beliefs and rituals to the Church of England) and eventual reception into the Catholic Church made him a nationally-known figure by the mid-1830s. He is remembered as a preacher, educational visionary, and one of the most significant modern theologians of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches.

The title of Doctor of the Church is reserved for people whose writings have greatly served the universal Catholic Church. Only 37 people have been given the title over the course of the church's 2,000-year history, including the 5th century St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales and St. Teresa of Avila. Only one Englishman – the venerable Bede – had received the honour to date.

The Holy See announced on 31 July that the Pope confirmed the opinion of the Vatican’s saint-making office during an audience with its prefect, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, and would make the decision official soon.