On 9th October 1845, John Henry Newman, Oxford don and Anglican Vicar of the University Church, was received into the Roman Catholic Church by Father Dominic Barberi, causing a national scandal in England.
This week Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Britain to beatify Newman. This great event, which is the second step towards declaring John Henry Newman a saint, has been greeted with national acclaim.
The Holy Father’s visit to England and Scotland is not a political junket or a public relations tour but rather a pastoral journey by a shepherd to his flock. In beatifying John Henry Newman the church officially recognizes what many have known for decades in that the great churchman Newman is a figure to be both admired and emulated. Pope Benedict in his message to the British people noted his joy at beatifying John Henry Newman whom he greatly admires and suggested that “it is my hope and prayer that more and more people will benefit from his gentle wisdom and be inspired by his example of integrity and holiness of life.”
Yet the joy and acclaim for Newman’s beatification has been dampened by the harsh criticism by the British media leveled at Pope Benedict as well as the blatant bigoted attacks upon the Catholic Church. Peter Tatchell, the leader of the militant homosexual group, Outrage and prominent British attorney, Geoffrey Robinson have threatened to arrest the pope for alleged crimes against humanity. Mr. Robinson has even drawn up what he describes as a legal case for Pope Benedict’s arrest. The Holy Father, who is scheduled to land in Edinburgh today in the first papal visit to Britain since 1982, is expected to face an opposition of different voices from secularist humanists, priestly sex abuse victims, and radical homosexual groups. Even the tiresome and anti-Catholic bigot Reverend Ian Paisley of Northern Ireland has announced his intention to protest the pope with his usual venom and hatred of all things Catholic.
The millions of Catholics living and worshiping in the British Isles have endured opposition, bigotry and even martyrdom in their storied church history so the threats of a few radical gays and secularists and the loud cries of bigots like Ian Paisley are certainly nothing new. The anti-Catholic sentiments of the British society of Newman’s 19th century has arisen again in the newly styled 21st century religious bigotry and politically correct intolerance advocated by radical secularists, homosexual militants and crass bigots. No doubt the biased media reports of vapid secular journalists and the shouts of radicals may dominate the coverage of the Pope’s visit to the British Isles. However, we hope and pray that as Pope Benedict beatifies John Henry Newman and boldly proclaims the truth of Jesus Christ that all the British people especially the loyal and faithful British Catholics are able to hear it above the din of protests and bigotry. For as the great John Henry Newman once said: “To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living.”
