The Pope declared John Henry Newman a saint today, the first Briton to be canonised since 1976. An audience of tens of thousands, including the Prince of Wales, applauded as Newman’s name was read out and the choir sang “Alleluia.” Newman, born in 1801, was a prominent Anglican at Oxford University, until 1845 when he converted to Catholicism. His conversion caused a sensation; one of his sisters never spoke to him again. Monsignor Roderick Strange, a biographer of the saint told the Telegraph: “At that time Catholics were a despised minority. To go from a position of such distinction to become a catholic left many of his contemporaries asking ‘what could you be thinking?!’” Newman became a priest and later Cardinal. As one of the great apologists for his faith, he helped found an oratory in
England and what is today University College, Dublin. His writings are considered masterpieces of Victorian theology. He died in 1890 and is the first Englishman born since the 1600s to be canonised.
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Canonisation Mass for John Henry Newman The Church has recognised two miracles performed, according to Catholic teaching, after prayer to Newman to intercede on the sufferer’s behalf. Jack Sullivan, a deacon, was cured of a spinal disease. Melissa Villalobos was cured of unstoppable bleeding. Both were present in the Square as pilgrims. In his homily, delivered surrounded by Swiss guards, Anglican and Catholic clergy, Pope Francis quoted from a sermon by Newman describing the Christian character as “cheerful, easy, kind, courteous, candid, unassuming.” Crowds gather in the St. Peter's Square for Newman's canonisation Credit: Reuters The Prince of Wales has also paid tribute to the saint’s celebrated ability to disagree without anger. His Royal Highness wrote: “Whatever our own beliefs or tradition, we can be thankful for the gifts, rooted in his Catholic faith, which Newman shared with wider society.”