04 July 2019, The Tablet
The saint for our times
John Henry Newman
Soon to be recognised as a saint,
John Henry Newman is too major a figure to belong to anybody. Yet the
battle to recruit him on the side of the critics of Pope Francis has
already begun. Conservative voices have made most of the running, and
can be expected to reach maximum volume on that day in October when
Newman is formally canonised. This would be to dishonour Newman’s
legacy, both in the Church of England and after his conversion. Taken as
a whole, he is Francis’ best advocate. He respected dogma but rejected
dogmatism, as does the Pope.
Take Newman’s famous remark, that if he had to drink a toast to the Pope and to conscience, he would “drink to conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards”. This tailors with his almost equally famous observation that conscience comes first as it is “the aboriginal Vicar of Christ”, which reminds Catholics of the phrase “Vicar of Christ”, sometimes used to refer to the Pope. For decades, Newman’s view of conscience gave comfort to progressive-minded Catholics unconvinced by such papal teachings as Humanae Vitae, with its prohibition of contraception; now conservative Catholics resisting the teaching of Amoris Laetitia, that there are circumstances in which divorced and remarried Catholics may be admitted to Holy Communion, take a similar line.
Simplistic uses of Newman’s dicta are unfaithful to his true meaning. He taught that individuals may have to undergo a long, searching and painful interior examination before reaching an understanding of objective truth, and therefore of where their duty lay. This could be the very opposite of the “long-sighted selfishness” that Newman characterised as a common misuse of conscience. Conscience is not just about applying rules to situations – but nor is it about the pursuit of personal preferences.
Newman had much more to say that supports the trajectory of the Francis papacy, not least that the Holy Spirit had sometimes used the laity to correct the hierarchy when the latter were wandering from true Catholic orthodoxy. The lay voice has a right to be heard, not just on matters of administration, Newman maintained, but on “matters of doctrine”. Pope Francis would agree. Newman argues, too, that the content of the Catholic faith is not static and set in concrete for all time, but evolves and develops in dialogue with reality. Pope Francis would agree with that, too.
Catholicism is a belief system based on reason as well as faith, independent of cultural or political leanings, and must be willing to account for itself, Newman believed, in the marketplace of ideas. And the divine grace that promotes truth can lead people towards God whatever label they wear. Francis would argue that this is the basis of his bold approach to dialogue with Jews and Muslims, as well as his interpretation of what evangelisation means today.
And in his Idea of a University, Newman also supplies a philosophical basis for scholarly learning that proclaims it as good in itself, regardless of ulterior economic or ideological purposes. Academic life in the West has never needed that message more urgently, as academic freedom is assailed from right and left.
In all these respects, Newman is truly the saint whose time has come – arguably England’s, and indeed Anglicanism’s, greatest gift to the Catholic world.
Take Newman’s famous remark, that if he had to drink a toast to the Pope and to conscience, he would “drink to conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards”. This tailors with his almost equally famous observation that conscience comes first as it is “the aboriginal Vicar of Christ”, which reminds Catholics of the phrase “Vicar of Christ”, sometimes used to refer to the Pope. For decades, Newman’s view of conscience gave comfort to progressive-minded Catholics unconvinced by such papal teachings as Humanae Vitae, with its prohibition of contraception; now conservative Catholics resisting the teaching of Amoris Laetitia, that there are circumstances in which divorced and remarried Catholics may be admitted to Holy Communion, take a similar line.
Simplistic uses of Newman’s dicta are unfaithful to his true meaning. He taught that individuals may have to undergo a long, searching and painful interior examination before reaching an understanding of objective truth, and therefore of where their duty lay. This could be the very opposite of the “long-sighted selfishness” that Newman characterised as a common misuse of conscience. Conscience is not just about applying rules to situations – but nor is it about the pursuit of personal preferences.
Newman had much more to say that supports the trajectory of the Francis papacy, not least that the Holy Spirit had sometimes used the laity to correct the hierarchy when the latter were wandering from true Catholic orthodoxy. The lay voice has a right to be heard, not just on matters of administration, Newman maintained, but on “matters of doctrine”. Pope Francis would agree. Newman argues, too, that the content of the Catholic faith is not static and set in concrete for all time, but evolves and develops in dialogue with reality. Pope Francis would agree with that, too.
Catholicism is a belief system based on reason as well as faith, independent of cultural or political leanings, and must be willing to account for itself, Newman believed, in the marketplace of ideas. And the divine grace that promotes truth can lead people towards God whatever label they wear. Francis would argue that this is the basis of his bold approach to dialogue with Jews and Muslims, as well as his interpretation of what evangelisation means today.
And in his Idea of a University, Newman also supplies a philosophical basis for scholarly learning that proclaims it as good in itself, regardless of ulterior economic or ideological purposes. Academic life in the West has never needed that message more urgently, as academic freedom is assailed from right and left.
In all these respects, Newman is truly the saint whose time has come – arguably England’s, and indeed Anglicanism’s, greatest gift to the Catholic world.
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