St. John Henry Newman to be declared 38th doctor of the Church

St. John Henry Newman (1881). / Credit: Sir John Everett Millais/Public domain Vatican City, Jul 31, 2025 / 09:36 am (CNA). Pope Leo XIV on Thursday approved the decision to declare St. John Henry Newman the 38th doctor of the universal Church.The decision to confer the title upon the 19th-century English saint — a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism — was confirmed during the pope’s morning meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. According to the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father accepted the “affirmative opinion” of dicastery members and the plenary session of cardinals and bishops regarding the founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England. In the Church’s 2,000-year history, only 37 other saints, including four women, have been given the title of doctor. The title is granted in recognition of an already canonized saint’s significant contribution to advancing the Church’s knowledge of doctrine, theology, or spirituality. The Vatican has not yet confirmed the date of Newman’s formal proclamation as a doctor of the Church.Born in London and baptized into the Church of England in 1801, Newman was a popular and respected Anglican priest, theologian, and writer among his peers prior to his conversion to Catholicism.In 1845, Newman asked his friend Blessed Dominic Barberi, an Italian Passionist priest living in England, to receive him into the Catholic Church.He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and later made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. He chose the motto “Cor ad cor loquitur” (“Heart speaks to heart”) as an expression of his conversion in his own heart, through the heart of God. As a Catholic, Newman deepened and contributed to the Church’s teaching, thanks to his broad knowledge of theology and his keen insight into modern times, grounded in the Gospel.His body of work includes 40 books and more than 20,000 letters.Newman died in Edgbaston, England, in 1890. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 19, 2010, and canonized by Pope Francis on Oct. 13, 2019.