Another St John?
Another St John?
April 23, 2008
Well, he finally made it. Word from Rome is that John Henry Newman is to be canonised. You can read the story here:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12435
I love Newman's writings -- he was perhaps the greatest prose stylist of the Victorian era; and in his clash with the evangelical and social reformer, Charles Kingsley, he clearly beat his opponent up very, very badly. A bad mismatch, that one but fun to read. Yet the account of the proposed canonisation shows how, in Catholicism, intellectual brilliance so often stands side-by-side with what can only be described as folk religion. It is great to hear of miraculous cures and survivals; but to attribute them to a dead cardinal?? To quote the great British theologian, Victor Meldrew, `I don't BELIEVE IT!' If Newman is significant, it's because of his writings, not some superstitious nonsense.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=12435
I love Newman's writings -- he was perhaps the greatest prose stylist of the Victorian era; and in his clash with the evangelical and social reformer, Charles Kingsley, he clearly beat his opponent up very, very badly. A bad mismatch, that one but fun to read. Yet the account of the proposed canonisation shows how, in Catholicism, intellectual brilliance so often stands side-by-side with what can only be described as folk religion. It is great to hear of miraculous cures and survivals; but to attribute them to a dead cardinal?? To quote the great British theologian, Victor Meldrew, `I don't BELIEVE IT!' If Newman is significant, it's because of his writings, not some superstitious nonsense.
