ANGLICANS and Roman Catholics have emphasised the continuing ecumenical importance of St John Henry Newman (1801-90), while celebrating the 2 hundredth anniversary of his first sermon.
“Newman could have turned his back on Anglicanism, but he didn’t turn his back on Anglicans — he was insistent that individuals shouldn’t change into Catholics unless they really understood what they were doing, and had weighed the implications,” the Rector of London’s Mater Ecclesiae College, the Revd Professor Roderick Strange, said.
Professor Strange, whose books include Newman: The heart of holiness (Books, 15 November 2019), spoke after addressing an ecumenical commemoration at Over Worton, in Oxfordshire, at the top of last month. It is the village where the long run saint preached in Holy Trinity on 23 June 1824, ten days after being ordained deacon.
“Many Anglicans have a high regard for his scholarship, spirituality, and Englishness, and this is very important for today’s moves towards closer inter-Church relations, recognising what’s good in other people and other religious positions.”
Professor Strange told the Church Times that Newman had “very much appreciated” the complexities of religion, and the impossibility of “declaring one side right and the opposite improper”, and that this helped to elucidate the reverence still widely felt for him within the Church of England.
The Rector of Westcote Barton, the Revd Jane Wright, who organised the event, said that the part played by Newman as an “ecumenical bridge-builder” had been reflected in the big turnout and “warm atmosphere”.
“Many individuals who knew little about him were intensely interested in how this great historical figure got here to be connected with our tiny church,” said Ms Wright, who administers five parishes.
“Those who’d already derived advantages from his voluminous writings also desired to be here. There was no awkwardness over the proven fact that he’d left the Church of England for Rome.”
Newman preached at Over Worton on Psalm 27.14: “Wait on the Lord; be of fine courage,” 4 days before taking on duties as curate of St Clement’s, Oxford, 17 miles south.
He subsequently became famous for his sermons and as an architect of the Oxford Movement, serving as university chaplain and Vicar of St Mary’s University Church. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, aged 43, and was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, he was canonised in Rome in October 2019, becoming the primary British non-martyr saint canonised for six centuries.
The Over Worton commemoration included the cutting of a “Newman cake” by the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Revd Gavin Collins, and the RC Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Revd Bernard Longley, who preached on the saint’s relevance to “all Christians, whatever their denomination” at an ecumenical evensong.
Both prelates closed the service, held 200 years to the hour after Newman’s, and included prayers and hymns by the saint, with a joint blessing.
Professor Strange said that Newman’s ecumenical status had been enhanced by his canonisation, and that calls for him to be proclaimed by the Pope because the thirty eighth Doctor of the Church, in recognition of his special doctrinal authority, had been supported by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in a recent petition to Rome.
“This unique gesture, taken spontaneously at their very own initiative, shows they understand Newman’s appeal and need to contribute to it,” Professor Strange said.
“If Newman is elevated to this status, it’ll be essential for Rome to know this isn’t something offensive to Anglicans — but, quite the opposite, something Anglicans will approve and support.”
