Cardinal Henry Newman is about to be canonized by the Catholic Church. The famous convert from Anglicanism and author of An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine is one of the most outstanding intellects the English-speaking Catholic world ever produced. He was also the founding rector of the University College Dublin.
A whole host of English dignitaries will be heading to Rome, including Prince Charles. Curiously, Patsy McGarry of the Irish Times reports “Neither the [Irish] Government nor University College Dublin are expected to be officially represented at the canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Rome next Sunday, according to indications last night.” Well, that’s curious? Were there no invites? No invites requested.
Newman’s conversion happened while all of Ireland was in the United Kingdom and became one of the Isles’ most important Catholics in the decades after Emancipation. Luckily, my friend Fr. William Dailey of Newman’s University Church at St. Stephen’s Green will be on hand, with pilgrims.