The Cause of the Canonisation of John Henry Cardinal Newman

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Pope Benedict XVI at Viterbo, Italy: Newman, ‘celebrated intellectual and man of luminous spirituality’

Categorised as News and published Thursday, September 10th, 2009
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Pope Benedict XVI described the Venerable John Henry Newman as a “celebrated intellectual” and a “man of luminous spirituality”, in a homily during his recent pastoral visit to Viterbo.

During his visit to the city, which is about 65 miles north of Rome, the Pope celebrated an outdoor Mass, visited the conclave room of the Papal Palace and went to nearby Bagnoregio, where St Bonaventure was born in 1217.

The Papal visit to Viterbo, where five Popes were elected in the thirteenth century, took place on Sunday 6 September. The visit also brought the Pope to the region of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the passionist priest, who became famous through his contact with John Henry Newman.

In his homily, the Pope spoke of the Trappist nun Blessed Gabriella Sagheddu (1914-1939), who received a special vocation to pray for Christian Unity. “In the monastery of Vitorchiano, the site of her tomb,” the Holy Father said, “spiritual ecumenism continues to manifest itself, nourished by the incessant prayer strongly urged by the Second Vatican Council (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, no. 8).”

Pope Benedict went on: “I would also like to mention another citizen of Viterbo, Blessed Dominic Barberi [1792-1849], the Passionist priest who, in 1845, welcomed John Henry Newman – who later became a cardinal – into the Catholic Church.”

The Pope continued: “Newman was a celebrated intellectual and a man of luminous spirituality.”

Elsewhere in his homily, speaking of Christ’s healing of the deaf mute in the Gospel of Mark, Pope Benedict declared the need to “confront, lucidly and coherently, the current and inescapably pressing ‘crisis in education’, a great challenge for every Christian community and for society as a whole, requiring precisely a process of ‘Ephphatha,’ of opening the ears, loosening the tongue and opening the eyes [to God].”

The Pope also spoke of the charitable works of the Church as “signs of faith in and love of God.” Mentioning St Rose (1233-1251), co-patroness of the diocese of Viterbo and famous for her love and support for the poor, the Pope also noted that in later centuries “many houses of consecrated life were born, for both men and women, and in particular cloistered monasteries, which constitute a visible reminder of the primacy of God in human life and show us that prayer is the primary expression of charity.”

Pope Benedict, who has studied Newman since his time in seminary in the post-war years, approved in July the Decree recognising the miracle which will lead to Newman’s Beatification next year.