Pope Leo XIV will officially declare St John Henry Newman, the most recently canonised saint from England and Wales, the 38th Doctor of the Church.
Pope Leo XIV will officially declare St John Henry Newman, the most recently canonised saint from England and Wales, the 38th Doctor of the Church.
In a statement from the Holy See Press Office, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, said that Pope Leo XIV has “confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman.”
The announcement was welcomed by the Rt Rev. Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury. Bishop Davies said: “It is a cause of great joy for these islands and indeed the whole world that our own St John Henry Newman is to be recognised as a doctor, a teacher of the Universal Church.”
“This outstanding Oxford academic, Catholic priest and Cardinal is to be raised up by Pope Leo in the sight of all generations as a faithful guide in his teaching and writing alongside some of the greatest witnesses and teachers in Christian history.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, said: “I am delighted and thrilled that Pope Leo has today announced that he will declare St John Henry Newman to be a ‘Doctor of the Church’.”
The Most Rev. Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham and Vice President of the Bishops’ Conference, said: “Together with the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory, I am immensely grateful to Pope Leo for declaring St John Henry Newman as a Doctor of the Church. Cardinal Newman is only the third Englishman to be afforded this title, after St Bede the Venerable and St Anselm of Canterbury.”
September 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of St John Henry Newman’s Beatification in Cofton Park, Birmingham in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
A Doctor of the Church is a man or woman of great holiness and learning whose teaching and wisdom not only resonated with their own contemporaries, but still illuminates, instructs and inspires today.
(Photos courtesy of the Birmingham Oratory)
