The Cause of the Canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman

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Milan Conference closes, Papal Message echoed by Cardinal Tettamanzi: Newman an “authentic point of reference for us all”

Categorised as News and published Monday, March 30th, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI sends greetings to Milan Conference: Cardinal Newman, ‘illustrious man of the Church’
Papers given at the Milan Conference: Newman on Faith and Reason, the friendship of the Human and the Divine

The opening of the Conference in Milan on John Henry Newman, logos e dialogo, which took place on 26-27 March (Left to right: Fr Hermann Geissler, Revd Dr Jeremy Morris, Prof Lorenzo Ornaghi, Revd Dr Ian Ker, Prof Evandro Botto)

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his “warmest greetings” to those participating in the Conference at the Catholic University of Milan on John Henry Newman oggi: logos e dialogo which concluded on the evening of Friday 27 March. The Pope, in a message transmitted by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, expressed his “lively appreciation for this timely initiative”, and spoke of Newman as “an illustrious man of the Church and important Catholic thinker”.

Continuing, the message set out the Pope’s wish that the Symposium give “a renewed impetus for a faith which both engages with reason and is lived with integrity”, directed at promoting “a dialogue ever more open and fruitful between people of all backgrounds” and “a new willingness to transmit and welcome the Truth”.

The conference, which began on 26 March, commemorated the 130th anniversary of the English theologian’s entrance into the College of Cardinals in 1879, and saw a series of expert speakers tackle a range of issues relating to faith and reason in Newman’s thought.

Ratzinger: “Newman belongs to the great teachers of the Church, because he both touches our hearts and enlightens our thinking”

The Rector of the University, Lorenzo Ornaghi, opened what he called a “significant” Conference by drawing attention to the interest of the Popes in Newman’s life and thought, quoting particularly Benedict XVI’s words spoken in 1990 as Cardinal Ratzinger: “Newman belongs to the great teachers of the Church, because he both touches our hearts and enlightens our thinking”.

With the first two papers of the Conference, perspectives were given from both Anglican and Catholic perspectives. Jeremy Morris, Dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, gave a thought-provoking talk on Newman’s relation to other English thinkers of the day, speaking of the ecumenical aspect of Newman’s vision. Ian Ker, of the University of Oxford, spoke on Newman’s doctrine of conscience, locating it in the context of his theology of the Church. Other key papers were given by Michael Paul Gallagher, Roman Siebenrock, Dermot Fenlon, and Inos Biffi. To read brief notes on each of the papers, click here.

Actor speaks on the Cause for Beatification, quoting Newman’s own Bishop: “There is a Saint in that man!”

Father Paul Chavasse, Actor of the Newman Cause, sent a message to the Conference, encouraging participants to pray for Newman’s beatification. Reflecting on Newman’s sanctity, Father Chavasse said: “In August 1887 Bishop Ullathorne of Birmingham made one of his last visits to the Oratory in Edgbaston in order to pay his respects to Cardinal Newman. After he returned home, the Bishop wrote down his impressions of the visit; he ended by saying ‘There is a Saint in that man!’ That perception of Ullathorne’s was echoed three years later after Cardinal Newman’s death. Obituaries from all over the world paid tribute to his holiness and looked forward to the day when the Catholic Church would surely canonise one of her greatest sons.”

Father Hermann Geissler, Director of the International Centre of Newman Friends, gave a summing up at the end of the Conference, underlining that Newman “continues to speak to us, men and women of the third millenium, engaging us with the vigour of his thought and the holiness of his life”. Father Geissler called Newman a “prophetic precursor” of the Second Vatican Council, quoting Jean Guitton’s words that “Newman illuminates the Council, and the Council justifies Newman”. In post-conciliar magisterium too, Newman finds a place: he is mentioned in the encyclicals of John Paul II Veritatis Splendour (1993) and Fides et Ratio (1998), and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Father Geissler concluded that this English Apostle “loved the Church and touched the lives and the consciences of many”.

Cardinal Tettamanzi: Newman an ”authentic point of reference for us all”

The Conference concluded with a Mass celebrated by His Eminence Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan. In his homily, the Cardinal highlighted Newman’s personal journey of faith, consisting in “a rigorous and profound search for the truth”. The Archbishop of Milan then spoke of Newman’s emphasis on “personal influence”, the meeting of “the spirit of one human person with the spirit of another.”

Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan celebrates Mass at the conclusion of the Conference, in the Chapel of the University

This, the Cardinal said, was the basis of Newman’s understanding of Christian witness. Cardinal Tettamanzi also drew attention to Newman as a model for the spiritual life: “Prayer, in all its forms, was the life-giving force in Newman’s mind and heart”. Newman, the Archbishop asserted, is rightly seen as a “authentic point of reference for all”.