The following statement is published in the name of Archbishop Dermot Farrell, Archbishop of Dublin and Vice President of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference:
It was with great joy that I learned of Pope Leo XIV’s decision to declare Saint John Henry Newman – Cardinal Newman as he perhaps better known – a Doctor of the Universal Church.
This news is of particular significance to Irish bishops who, during our 2023 summer plenary meeting in Maynooth, discussed the request to support the process to have Saint John Henry Newman conferred as a Doctor of the Church. We formally approved the petition and extended our support to the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales to bring it to the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints, which subsequently recommended the conferral to Pope Leo who approved it yesterday.
This title of Doctor of the Church is rarely bestowed and recognises the exceptional contribution Saint John Henry made to theological research and reflection. It puts Saint John Henry into the company of the greatest teachers the Church has ever had, together with such figures as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux – and also the saint whose feast we celebrate today: Saint Alphonsus Liguori – now totaling just thirty-eight in all.
Saint John Henry has a very special connection with Dublin, having been invited by my predecessor, Archbishop Paul Cullen, to live and work from 1851 to 1858 in the role as the first Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, the forerunner of today’s University College Dublin. It was here in Dublin that he delivered the famous lectures on university education, later published as The Idea of a University. The beautiful University Church on Saint Stephen’s Green, built on his initiative and under careful supervision, is a special place of worship for all Dubliners and reminds us to this day of his generosity, presence and work among us in that time.
Newman was a highly original thinker, who combined a vast knowledge of the Fathers of the Church with a keen appreciation of the contemporary culture and a deep understanding of human nature. As a result, his works, though composed in the nineteenth century, remain relevant and thought-provoking today. His motto, cor ad cor loquitur, “heart speaks to heart”, well expresses his ability as a thinker to engage personally with those who read him. His was a lifelong and sincere searching after truth, and his words still resonate with all who are engaged in such a search. I am confident that this new honour conferred on him will lead to a renewed interest in his works, the lasting testimony to an exceptionally gifted mind.
Saint John Henry Newman pray for us!
ENDS