#NewSaintNovember BONUS! Pope Leo also named a new “Doctor of the Church”! St. John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890).
At first glance, St. John Henry Newman can sound like someone who’s hard to connect with. He was a genius, an academic, and he spent a lot of time in solitude writing.
On the other hand, his writings were deeply human and the topics he wrote about are–despite how “intellectual” they sound–maybe even more relevant now than they were when he was alive (in Victorian England 🏴).
What’s more, he knew first hand what converting to the Catholic Church could cost you if you ever converted–especially for an Englishman at that time.
But that’s what made John Henry Newman unique. He seemed to feel as deeply as he thought, and he lived out his beliefs no matter what they cost him.
His “Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine,” “The Idea of a University,” and “The Grammar of Assent” all spoke to deeply human (and still very relevant) questions: Does doctrine change, or does it develop? How do we know the difference? What are colleges supposed to be like? How exactly do we… believe in things?
These are some of the many topics that he addressed, and they’re still making an impact to this day. It’s one of the reasons why, after his canonization in 2019, the Church has now named John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church.
🩺 It’s very rare to name someone a “Doctor of the Church,” and the Church does so extremely carefully. It’s her way of saying, upon declaration, “pay close attention to what this saint taught and said” – because their teaching is a gift for the whole Church.
His personal motto, “Heart Speaks to Heart,” shows that, before he was ever an intellectual, he was a pastor.
St. John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church, pray for us. 🙏
#JohnHenryNewman #Catholic #DoctoroftheChurch #HeartSpeakstoHeart
