Earlier today, the Holy Father authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a miracle attributed to the Venerable Servant of God, John Henry Newman.The Westminster Diocesan website carries an article: Pope Benedict XVI recognises Newman miracle in which Archbishop Nichols is quoted:
“I am delighted to learn this news, which will be warmly welcomed by Catholics around the world. To have Cardinal Newman among the Blessed is an occasion of great thankfulness to the Lord and of great pride to those associated with him in Birmingham and in Oxford. I am sure he will help us greatly in the task of protecting the Faith amidst the difficulties he foresaw so clearly.”There is also an article in the Daily Mail by Simon Caldwell: Pope Benedict clears way for Cardinal John Newman to become first English saint in 40 years
19 comments:
So PLEASE can we have some kind of public 'Celebration' to mark this as something very important to English Catholics!!! Our good Bishops should take the lead.
Parish processions in the Streets, an open air public celebration and Mass in Hyde Park (or at least in all our English Cathedrals!).
Why do we just 'whisper' this good news within the cloisters! The world needs to know about this - especially this country.
Every Daily newspaper should carry a positive story about the life of John Henry Newman. At least the Daily Mail has taken a lead here - well done Simon, but what about the News of the World, The Independent, The Sun, etc... - get this news out to the masses!!! Dare I even suggest a TV Documentary produced by Catholics.
Unless we as Catholics show that we truely rejoice at such a momentous occassion, that it actually means something to us, that it is relevant to our Catholic Faith and religion then how can we expect the secular world to take us seriously on so many other issues?
Where's our Catholic Media Office - do we even have one?
First English Saint in 40 years - that is GREAT news for England!!!!
Venerable John Henry Newman - Pray for us.
I know this doesn't constitute a miracle, but I have found every time I need a parking spot Cardinal Newman finds me one. This is really uncanny, now as soon as there is no where to park even the children say 'have you asked Cardinal Newman'.
I think he should be made Patron Saint of Parking.
This is welcome news but I just wonder whether we are making it harder for ourselves. The requirement for a miracle in order to make a saint is relatively modern. Surely Neweman could be declared a saint on account of his blessedness of life or is the pope constrained bu canon law in the requirement for a second miracle. How many saints in the calendar have miracles of a physical nature attested to them?
The Daily Mail mentions also he was buried with his friend giving rise to suggestions he was homosexual.
That's rubbish. Ask Fr Guy
See this post from three years ago on Newman's grave.
The very thought of homosexuality would have been abhorrent and disgusting to Newman and his contemporaries.
Blimey Fr T! I KNOW ALL THAT! I was just saying what the Daily Mail rag said!
I am sure some of his clerical contemporaries were homosexually oriented, as were yours.
I think it would be a miracle if he was buried their, they only found part of his hat from the reports I read, must be mighty strong worms. as to the homosexual smear, reading Newman, this man could find sin where no man has been before, its a non starter,- about as sound as holocaust denial.
'Abhorrent' and 'disgusted'. That is pretty strong language, fr tim. I read the linked article and it didn't attribute such extreme sentiment to Newman. What did tha man himself say about sexuality?
Also, it seems he was not buried with his friend at all. I suspect he was either buried in Oxford after the official funeral or in the grounds of the Birmingham Oratory. He might even be at Maryvale or Oscott.
Grim Reader, Edwin Walton - abhorrent and disgusting would be right. Newman, when he rarely spoke about such matters, used delicate language and circumlocution. Homosexuality in its modern form was not a feature of life at that time.
The self publicist Peter Tatchell has claimed that Newman was homosexual. Then again he claims that just about everyone of note (dead, of course!) shared his vice.
The Daily HateMail has printed some articles derogatory to the Church over the years, including one particularly nasty piece around the time of the Papal visit. I wouldn't bother with what that rag (or just about any other paper) has to say. Remember this is the paper that supported the fascists in the years leading up to WWII.
Robert don't be silly! He was really buried in our garden in Edgbaston a mile down the road from the Oratory!
'in its modern form'? How did they do it back then, like?
I think the modern term they use now is, Same Sex Attraction.
Edward P. Walton
Edward P Walton - the correct term in full is Same Sex Attraction Disorder (SSAD). For further information as to how this can be successfully treated please link to www.NARTH.com
To make spurious implications about the life of Venerable John Henry Newman just sucks!
HOW DARE THEY TRY TO SULLY HIS GOOD AND HOLY NAME WITH WHIMSICAL PC NONSENSE.
I was not accusing some of the clerical contemporaries of any sexual misconduct. However, merely stating the certainty that some of the contempory clerics were homosexually oriented. (Same Sex Attraction)
I hope nobody thinks I'm making any claims about Newman's commitment to celibacy. I just question whether he used the words 'abhorrent' and 'disgusting' to describe homosexuality. With respect, Fr Tim, to say "Homosexuality in its modern form was not a feature of life at that time" doesn't make sense. Throughout history there have been all manner of perverts and libertines, but you seem to be suggesting that Newman found the one place and time where there were none?
In any case, if the standard by which we judge these things is by how disgusting they are, we really ought not to be eating Christ's body and blood on a Sunday.
Grim Reader - even homosexual historians trace the modern "gay" movement to the theatres of mid-Victorian times. It was after Oscar Wilde that homosexuality became a social phenomenon.
Perversions have always existed but homosexual behaviour on board ship and in prison is different from the "gay lifestyle". It is that presumption of "being gay" that Newman would have found abhorrent and disgusting. He lived in an age when two male strangers would share a bed in a hostel without the slightest thought of homosexuality. the humorous Victorian novel "Three men in a boat" illustrates this without a hint of irony.
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