Pope Benedict trip: Why move John Henry Newman toward sainthood?
| Paris
The state visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain has placed him with the queen, prime minister, and given him a prized platform to argue for a deeper religious meaning in an overtly secular land.
Yet the culmination and purpose of Pope Benedict's trip is Sunday when he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman in a huge celebration in Birmingham, England.
Cardinal Newman, a 19th century writer and theologian, is a convert from the Anglican Church who made being British and being Catholic acceptable, scholars say. He was made a cardinal at the age of 80.
His 鈥渄octrine of development鈥� argued that theological ideas evolve into new manifestations. Newman retained skepticism of papal infallibility, famously saying, 鈥淒rink to the Pope, if you please, still, to conscience first.鈥�
The pope's trip to beatify a star convert to Catholicism comes at a sensitive time for British Anglicans. The church is bitterly divided over gay marriage, female priests, and religious authority. Traditionalist Anglicans, such the writer GP Taylor, have converted to Catholicism, and the Anglican bishops of Rochester and Chichester have threatened to leave.
Last fall the pope shocked the Anglican establishment by announcing that large chunks of their 鈥渄isillusioned鈥� faithful could convert to the Roman Catholic Church; clergy could stay married.
The sudden offer, made after Vatican meetings with Anglicans behind the back of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was described by Oxford church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch as destroying decades of careful ecumenical work.
鈥淎s in various other controversial personal initiatives of his pontificate, to do with Muslims or condoms in Africa, the pope has jumped into a delicate situation regardless of consultation with those in the Vatican who have charge of such matters,鈥� Mr. MacCulloch .
Archbishop Williams told Vatican radio after a meeting with the pope that he didn鈥檛 think the Vatican was conducting a 鈥渄awn raid鈥� on the Anglican communion but said he wished he had been consulted prior to the announcement.
The respected National Catholic Reporter columnist John Allen pointed out to CNN today that the pope needs to be concerned it not appear to be 鈥減oaching鈥� Anglicans while on this trip.
But regarding the beatification of Newman, British Catholics are thrilled.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a heroic figure, an Anglican star who became Catholic, showing we can be both very British and very Catholic,鈥� says a Benedictine theologian.
To some theologians, his beatification involves a 鈥渞einterpretation鈥� of Newman 鈥� harmonizing his thinking to suit a church and a pope turning in a far more orthodox direction than Newman would have countenanced.
In a Financial Times article, 鈥�,鈥� Newman biographer John Cornwell writes that Newman鈥檚 advocacy of free and open inquiry and his dissenting spirit would put him at strong odds with the pope, whose 28 year tenure at the Vatican has been marked by ever more conservative and orthodox views.
Mr. Cornwall writes: 鈥淲hy had Benedict, a rigid conservative, seen fit to hasten the beatification of a man who has an iconic stature for liberal Catholic intellectuals throughout the English-speaking world? All becomes clear with Benedict鈥檚 revision of John Henry Newman鈥檚 legacy. Pope Benedict and Catholic officialdom are presenting Newman as an exemplar of unquestioning papal allegiance. ... Addressing the bishops of England and Wales in Rome this February, he declared that Newman was an example to the world of opposition to 鈥榙issent鈥�. It was like saying that Churchill had been a Trotskyite all along.鈥�
Several Catholic writers who say that Newman鈥檚 views are less liberal than Cornwall suggests have attacked Cornwall鈥檚 article.
Gabriel Fackre, emeritus professor at the Andover-Newton Theological Academy in Boston, and well-known in the ecumenical community, argues 鈥渢he heart of ecumenism [or interfaith work] is when each tradition brings its own gifts to the other.鈥�
Newman, Mr. Fackre argues, was known for the idea that theological ideas have a 鈥渢rajectory鈥� in which 鈥測ou don鈥檛 abandon the teachings but let them flower 鈥� the ordination of women might be an example. It is a very supple concept of doctrine that is a long way from Benedict, who seems to rigidify doctrine.鈥�
The pope, however, is showing a willingness to change and adapt in the Newman case, analysts point out. By tradition popes do not beatify individuals. Popes by rule only 鈥渃anonize鈥� 鈥� the next step after beatification, in a long process toward sainthood. But in Newman鈥檚 case, which has been sped up, Benedict is making an exception.
