A new Doctor of the Church!

Pope Leo XIV declared St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church in a special Mass in St Peter’s Square as part of the Jubilee of Education.

St John Henry Newman becomes the 38th Doctor of the Church and has also been named Co-Patron for Education, alongside St Thomas Aquinas.

Students and staff from the Venerable English College took part in the Mass on 1 November (All Saints Day) when the proclamation was made. Several of our seminarians assisted at the Mass as servers and readers.

In his homily, Pope Leo praised St John Henry Newman’s “impressive spiritual and cultural stature”. Quoting Lead Kindly Light, the Holy Father said that Newman offered a way to counter the “encircling gloom of nihilism” which he described as one of the most dangerous aspects of contemporary culture.

The decision to make St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church follows years of hard work by many people, especially those in the Newman Group. Members of the Group were welcomed to the VEC on 2 November for Sunday Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

St John Henry Newman has strong links to the VEC. He visited the College frequently and celebrated his third Mass as a Catholic priest in our Martyrs Chapel.

St John Henry Newman, priest and Doctor of the Church, pray for us!

The serving team from the VEC with Cardinals Roche and Nichols ahead of the Papal Mass