Canonisation of John Henry Newman

Venerable John Henry Newman, CO (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890)[1] was a Roman Catholic priest and cardinal who converted to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism in October 1845. In early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots. Eventually his studies in history persuaded him to become a Roman Catholic. Both before and after becoming a Roman Catholic, he wrote a number of influential books, including Via Media, Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865-66) and the Grammar of Assent (1870).

His body was buried in the small cemetery at Rednal near Birmingham, next to the Oratory country house. The grave was opened on 2 October 2008 with the intention of moving any remains to a tomb inside Birmingham Oratory, during Newman's consideration for sainthood; however, no remains were found due to the coffin having been wooden and the burial having taken place in a damp site. Canonisation would make Cardinal Newman the first English person who has lived since the 17th century to become a saint. In 1991 Cardinal Newman was proclaimed "Venerable" by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In 1970 the last English and Welsh saints to become canonized were the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Process of canonization

In 1991, Newman was proclaimed venerable after a thorough examination of his life and work by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints. One miracle attributed to Newman's intercession must occur and be fully investigated and approved by the Vatican before he can be beatified. A second miracle would then be necessary for his canonization.

In October 2005, Fr Paul Chavasse, provost of the Birmingham Oratory, who is the postulator responsible for the cause, announced that a miraculous cure had occurred.

Jack Sullivan, a deacon from Marshfield, Massachusetts in the United States, is attributing his recovery from a spinal cord disorder to Cardinal Newman. The alleged miracle occurred in the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Boston, whose responsibility it is to determine its validity. In August 2006 the Archbishop of Boston, Sean O'Malley announced he was passing details to the Vatican.

On April 24, 2008, the press secretary to the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory reported that the medical consultants at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had met that day and voted unanimously that Sullivan's recovery defies any scientific or medical explanation. The question of the genuineness of the alleged miracle then went to the panel of theological consultors, who unanimously agreed to recognize the miracle a year later on April 24, 2009. The panel's vote, presumably having been verified by the prelate members of the Congregation, now allows Pope Benedict XVI to beatify Newman at a date of his choosing once he meets with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (currently Archbishop Angelo Amato) to formally approve the Congregation's voting process. On 3 July 2009 Pope Benedict XVI recognised the healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan in 2001 as a miracle, resulting from the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God, John Henry Newman. This decision paves the way for Cardinal Newman’s beatification, though the exact date for beatification has not yet been formally announced.

A second miracle would need to be confirmed before Newman could be canonized as a saint. The Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints is expected to consider the case of a 17-year-old New Hampshire resident, who fully recovered from severe head injuries suffered in a car accident after invoking Cardinal Newman.

Several sources have suggested that Pope Benedict XVI has taken a personal interest in Newman's cause. Fr Chavasse expanded on his remarks at the Michaelmas 2006 dinner of the Oxford University Newman Society (held in November), suggesting that Benedict XVI has shown a personal interest in Newman's cause.

Indeed, Vatican Radio has announced that on July 3, 2009, Pope Benedict authorized Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect for the Vatican's Congregation of the Causes of Saints, to promulgate decrees on the progress of several would-be Catholic saints, including Newman. This includes a recognition of the validity of Newman's miracle in Boston, effectively declaring his beatification imminent.

Movement of remains

The Vatican decided to move his remains from The Lickey Hills, near Rednal, Worcestershire to the Oratory in Birmingham city centre in anticipation of his being declared a saint. The move required prior permission from the Ministry of Justice; in preparation the area was enclosed by steel fencing incorporating The Oratory country house, a mortuary chapel and a small graveyard which contained his shared grave.

The installation of a new security fence around the area due to vandalism led to a planning permission dispute with the local Birmingham City Council as it is in a designated green belt area; the area is one of outstanding natural beauty, being a large country park.

The issue of planning permission, however, was resolved at a meeting on 22 July 2008 between Father Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, and Councillor Peter Douglas Osborn, Chairman of the Planning Committee. The Fathers of the Oratory were required to make the necessary alterations to the new security fence in order to comply with Birmingham City's planning regulations, and gave an undertaking that this would take place within an agreed time scale; the Public Appeal was not to take place, and the City agreed not pursue any legal action against the Birmingham Oratory.

The planned exhumation and move of Cardinal Newman's remains were finally agreed by the UK Ministry of Justice as a special case, as UK law prohibits the removal of a body from a graveyard to a church tomb. The Ministry of Justice granted a licence on 11 August 2008, the 118th anniversary of Newman's death in 1890, to permit undertakers to move his remains from a cemetery in Rednal, Worcestershire, to a special resting place of honour at Birmingham Oratory.

The proposed movement of Newman's body angered some gay-rights campaigners, who saw it as an attempt to deliberately separate him from Ambrose St John, with whom he was buried in accordance with his personal wishes. The UK gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell entered the debate in an article in The Times on 19 August 2008, accusing the Vatican of "moral vandalism" , and renewed his criticisms on the Sunday programme on BBC Radio 4, 24 August 2008.

In response the Vatican commissioned Father Ian Ker, a theologian at Oxford University, to refute the allegations in an article for the Vatican’s newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.

Newman's grave at Rednal was opened on 2 October 2008. It had been hoped that his body had been buried in a lead coffin and would be well preserved. However, the exhumation revealed that Newman had been buried in a wooden coffin and his body had completely decomposed; there were no human remains. The only artefacts retrieved, including an inscription plate, were wooden, brass and cloth. These artefacts, along with locks of hair, which had been sent to Sullivan before his inexplicable cure (and had always been in the possession of the Birmingham Oratory), will be placed in a glass sided casket for a Vigil of Reception planned for 31 October and 1 November. It is now planned that the relics will be solemnly placed in the Chapel of St Charles Borromeo, a friend of St Philip Neri, situated to the right of the Sanctuary. They will rest in the Chapel while the process of Beatification continues in Rome. The Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory have decided that the specially made green Italian marble sarcophagus will not be placed between the columns opposite the Holy Souls' Altar in the Oratory Church, Birmingham as originally planned.

In November 2008, Tatchell accused the Home Office of collusion with the Vatican. According to his interpretation of heavily censored documents released to him under the Freedom of Information Act, Tatchell claimed that the Catholic Church had "put the government under sustained pressure" to obtain the authorisation to exhume the body. He said:

"The documents show that the Ministry of Justice worked in close cooperation with the Catholic Church to deflect criticism of the reburial plans, which violated Cardinal Newman's expressed wish to remain buried with the man he loved for over 30 years, Father Ambrose St John. They reveal high level collusion between the government and the Catholic Church, including devising a 'Media Plan' to rebut criticisms.

Nevertheless, Ker and Fr. Paul Chavasse, current provost of the Birmingham Oratory, maintain that Newman would have been glad to submit to the wishes of the Vatican in whatever they asked, no matter his previous wishes. Chavasse has it that, If it is true, then, that Newman thought of the will of the Church as more important than his own will, Tatchell's argument seems problematic.

External links

Cause

• The Cause for the Canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman
• 1996 article on the canonisation process
• Promulgation of Newman as venerable (in Latin)