Day #4 of the Pope's Visit to Scotland and England

Benedict Beatifies Newman, Day 4

 

On the fourth and final day of his 4-day trip to Scotland and England, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass of Beatification for Blessed John Henry Newman in Birmingham. He then concluded his trip, and departed for Rome...

By Robert Moynihan

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The Pope in Birmingham, September 19, 2010

 

Day #4 of the Visit to Scotland and England

 

(Photo, Blessed John Henry Newman, beatified today in Birmingham, England, by Pope Benedict XVI)

 

 

Today in Birmingham, England, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass in which he raised to the honors of the altars the great 19th century British Catholic convert, Blessed John Henry Newman.

 

He declared Cardinal John Henry Newman blessed while celebrating an open-air Mass with 60,000 worshipers present in a Birmingham park on his fourth and final day in Great Britain.

There was a slight drizzle during the ceremony.

Here is a link to a video of the Mass, hosted on the website of the Catholic Herald in England: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/multimedia/2010/09/19/pope-beatifies-cardinal-john-henry-newman

Beatification brings Newman one step closer to becoming a saint.

(Photo below, Pope Benedict in his popemobile as he arrives at Cofton Park, the site of the open air Mass. A baby is being held up to him as he drives through the crowd)

Newman was an Anglican clergyman, scholar, educator, poet and leader of the Oxford Movement of the 1830s —which aimed to help the Church of England return to its Catholic roots — who converted to Catholicism in mid-life.

 

It was a wrenching experience, which turned Newman's personal life upside down.

Before the Pope's trip, many questioned whether the beatification of an Anglican convert would be a provocation.

 

But this visit has in fact highlighted the common ground between Anglicans and Catholics.

Today it was not Newman's brilliant mind alone that Benedict wished to recall in his homily.

 

Rather, it was Newman's humanity.

 

(Photo, Newman as an old man wearing his cappa, the robe of a cardinal)

 

The fact that Newman was an ordinary man, not an angel.

 

Newman was a pastor of souls, the Pope said, who, because he was a simple, fallible man, was able to be compassionate toward fallible and sinful human beings, while all the time calling them to a better, higher way of life.

And Newman lived out during his life this "profoundly human vision of priestly ministry," the Pope said.

 

Precisely this "profoundly human vision" of priestly ministry, Benedict suggested, makes Newman a model for the priests of our time, and of all time.

 

The key passage is this one from the Pope's homily today:

 

"While it is John Henry Newman’s intellectual legacy that has understandably received most attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor of souls.

 

"The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: 'Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathized with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides, and have led you on from your old selves into a new life, as they can who come from the midst of you' ("Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel", Discourses to Mixed Congregations, 3).

 

"He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here."

 

(Note: The word "condoled" above may seem to be a typo for "consoled," but is not; it is an unusual verbal form of the word which is more familiar to us as "condolence" or "condolences," meaning "sympathy for another in sorrow." Newman, citing St. Paul here, is saying that priests, being men, not angels, can sympathize with other sorrowing sinners because they too are sinners.)

I include below, after the text of the Pope's homily, the complete text of Newman's original sermon, which is itself a marvelous summary of Newman's teaching on the priesthood.

In both the Pope's text and in Newman's text, I bold-face the key words.

Continue reading text here: http://community.icontact.com/p/insidethevatican/newsletters/christmas/posts/letter-47-2010-news-england-4

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