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The saints

St. John Henry Newman

The most famous Anglican in England, who followed his conscience into the Catholic Church.

Feast: 9 October · 1801 to 1890 · The modern era · Oxford and Birmingham, England

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Black-and-white photograph of St. John Henry Newman in old age, in profile, wearing a skullcap.

Herbert Rose Barraud, 1887. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. John Henry Newman

Littlemore, near Oxford, 1845

Newman was a celebrated Anglican priest and preacher at Oxford.1

He set out to show the Church of England was the true heir of the early Church.1

Studying the early Fathers, he became convinced the Catholic Church was, and in 1845 he became Catholic.

Patronage No official patronage we can cite yet. The Church honors him as a saint and a Doctor of the Church.

01St. John Henry Newman

Lead, kindly light

He lost friends, position and reputation, and was distrusted by many Catholics too.1

He founded the Oratory in Birmingham, wrote on faith and conscience, and was made a cardinal in old age.1

Live it this week

Follow the truth one step

Newman followed the truth though it cost him his friends. Pray his line from Lead, Kindly Light this week: one step enough for me. Then take the one next step you already see.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint John Henry Newman”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.