Best known for his writings in defence of the Faith, John Henry Newman was one of the dominant religious figures of 19th Century England writes Thomas McGovern

As a child John Henry Newman learned to love the Bible which was read to him by his mother until he could read it for himself At fifteen he had his first conversion when he became conscious of the need for a definite creed. That same year (1816) he discovered the Fathers of the Church which became for him 'a paradise of delight'.

It was around this time too that he became convinced that he should lead a celibate lifestyle as a response to the vision of the Christian vocation that had gripped his mind. His celibate vocation was combined with a great capacity to love people, which inspired in them a deep loyalty to this person.

Newman entered Oxford University in 1816. He fell in love with the place from the beginning, a love that lasted a long life-time. At the end of his first year he won a scholarship which was worth £60 a year for nine years. In 1822 Newman was elected a fellow of Oriel College, the greatest prize Oxford could offer a young man. All this time he had kept up his habits of prayer and meditation and in 1822 he decided to enter the ministry of the Church of England. He was entrusted with the care of St Clements, a poor parish in Oxford.

Discovery

At this time Newman was rediscovering his early interest in the Fathers. During the years of the Oxford Movement (1833-41) he tried to justify the apostolicity of the Anglican Church from the Fathers and to establish it as the Via Media between Rome and Protestantism. However, he saw that while it had a certain validity as a theology, it had no counterpart in reality. Perhaps his strongest statement on the Fathers was ''I am not ashamed to take my stand upon the Fathers - the Fathers made me a Catholic''. Newman's great discovery was that the Catholic Church of the 19th Century was the same as the Church of the Fathers.

Newman did a Mediterranean tour in the autumn of 1832 for health reasons. He returned to Oxford in 1833 with his health restored and in a buoyant mood. He had pledged himself to undertake the work of renewing and purifying the Church of England. Later that year, with some university friends, he began the Oxford Movement, by publishing the first of a series of ninety Tracts for the Times. The Movement caused great excitement in the 1830s. Newman was the most dynamic member, and his influence grew with the publication of his sermons, which gave him a nationwide audience. His sermons transformed the preaching of the Church of England.

The Oxford Movement had not met any real opposition until it published Tract 90 in 1841, which gave a Catholic interpretation to the Thirty Nine Articles. This, however, was a bridge too far. Newman was condemned by the Anglican bishops and the whole Protestant establishment. Out of obedience he ceased publishing the Tracts.

At this stage he retired to Littlemore, a village on the outskirts of Oxford, to work out the problems he faced in prayer and peace.

By 1843 Newman had become convinced that Rome was the true Church. He had started writing his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine which proved to him that the Church of the Fathers was the Roman Catholic Church of his day. He was received in October 1845. After his conversion, several hundred university men followed his example, including many clergy of the Church of England.

Ordained

In 1846 he left for Rome where he studied theology and was ordained to the priesthood in May 1847. He decided that the Oratory of St Philip Neri would best suit the spiritual and apostolic needs of himself and his disciples, and so he set up the first foundation in Birmingham with a parish and schools. Here he devoted himself to pastoral work especially with the poor factory children who crowded in every evening.

In 1851 Newman was invited by the Irish bishops to advise them on setting up a Catholic university in Dublin. He had many other responsibilities at the time but was eventually persuaded to come to Dublin to work on this unique educational project. He initially gave a series of lectures which were to make up that classic volume, The Idea of a University.

The project of the university gradually took shape over the next three years. There were misunderstandings and administrative silences, but the university eventually got under way with five faculties - theology, law, medicine, philosophy, and letters. In 1858 Newman resigned from the university as his responsibilities there had become incompatible with his commitments in England.

Religious opinion

In 1863 Charles Kingsley fired the charge of untruthfulness against Newman, which was accepted by many in England who thought that while an Anglican, Newman led a secret Catholic movement to undermine the Church of England. Newman felt it was his duty, after 20 years, to vindicate his personal honour and truthfulness. In doing so he wrote down the history of his religious opinion. The Apologia pro vita sua is one of the great spiritual biographies of Christian history. Public opinion now began to change in his favour. Catholic priests rallied to his support.

Another of Newman's great literary successes was his 1874 Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, explaining papal infallibility as it had been defined at the first Vatican Council in 1870. It completely reversed the public perception of the decree - which was very negative - showing how infallibility could only be exercised in very limited situations, and in a very circumscribed way.

In May 1879 Newman was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. He lived out that last decade of his life quietly in Birmingham. He died on August 11, 1890. He will be beatified in September during the papal visit to Britain.

Extract taken from Generations of Priests (Four Courts Press) by Thomas McGovern, a priest of the Opus Dei prelature.