Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy See Press Office has announced that His Holiness Benedict XVI will make an apostolic trip to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September, for the occasion of the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, which will take place in Cofton Park, Birmingham. In the course of his trip, the Holy Father will visit Her Majesty the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and preside at the celebration of the Eucharist in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. In London, he will meet representatives from the worlds of politics, culture, and business in Westminster Hall, participate at an ecumenical celebration in Westminster Abbey, and preside at a celebration of the Eucharist in Westminster Cathedral and at a prayer vigil in Hyde Park. Finally, he will preside at the celebration of the rite of beatification of Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman.
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was born in London, into an Anglican family. After studying at Oxford, he became a priest of the Anglican Church in 1824. As he attended to the university students, he also continued his studies in philosophy and theology, which led to his conversion to Catholicism in 1845. The Urban College, who was then based in the Palace of Propaganda Fide in Rome, hosted him among its seminarians from around the world. Newman was ordained a Catholic priest in the Chapel of the Palace, dedicated to the Magi, on May 30, 1847, Feast of the Holy Trinity. Fascinated by the figure of St. Philip Neri, he founded the Congregation of the Oratory in England. He was Rector of the Catholic University of Dublin from 1851 to 1857. In 1879, Leo XIII created him Cardinal. He continued to live in England until death overtook him in the Oratory in Edgbaston. He left behind a large number of works that touch on the larger philosophical and theological issues of his time, anticipating developments that would be made only in the following century.
On the occasion of their Ad Limina Apostolorum visit, the Bishops of England and Wales visited the Palace of Propaganda Fide last February 3, especially the areas related to Cardinal Newman. On November 24, 2006 , the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion, His Grace Dr. Rowan Williams, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the historic meeting between Pope Paul VI and the then Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey, visited the Newman Chapel, which had then been recently restored, and the Chapel of the Magi. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 07/06/2010)
