On July 31, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIII will declare St. John Henry Newman, the 19th-century English Catholic convert priest, theologian, philosopher, educational theorist, and writer, a “Doctor of the Church.” Only 37 such “doctors” have been recognized over two millennia. This declaration will put Newman in the elite company of such heavenly dignitaries as Anselm, Athanasius, Augustine, Basil the Great, the Venerable Bede, Catherine of Siena, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Hildegard of Bingen, Irenaeus of Lyons, John Chrysostom, and Thomas Aquinas.
Though Newman was only beatified (declared “Blessed”) in 2010 and canonized as St. John Henry in 2019, the idea that he would one day be declared both saint and doctor was held in high places long before. Jean Guitton, a French theologian and friend of Pope Pius XII, recounted that, in 1957, the increasingly frail pontiff whispered into his ear, “Console yourself: Newman will one day be a Doctor of the Church.” Pius’s prophecy is now coming true.
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