About Newman
St. John Henry Newman, Doctor and Friend
November 1, 2025
St. John Henry Newman, Doctor and Friend
John Henry Newman has taught us that we have been made “friends of God.” We are God’s children but God has also made us his friends. He has made us share in his inner life and inner circle of friends. When we speak of the canonized saints – indeed of all the saints – we speak of those who lived as God’s children and friends of Christ.
Jesus told his disciples, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (Jn 15:15). The disciples lived with Jesus; they learned from him and received his love; they ate and walked with Him. They heard Him reveal to them the secrets of the kingdom and when the time came they shared in his passion and death.
The canonized saints are those Christians who, like the Apostles, most closely have followed Jesus. They were Jesus’ friends. Jesus told them that He wished for them to go and bear fruit; to go teach the nations. John Henry Newman heard God’s call as a youth and embraced a life of study and the practice of virtue. Through reflection and prayer he grew in a close friendship with Jesus Christ. In pursuit of religious truth he suffered as he wrestled with discovering truth and in the end accepting the Roman Catholic faith, leaving his friends, position, and comfort as an Anglican clergyman and Fellow of Oriel College.
Newman became a teacher of the faith, first as an Anglican and after 1845 as a Roman Catholic. He taught from the pulpit and from his desk and even more by his example. He left a deep impression on his students and friends. His books were read in England and North America. Soon after his death they were read in Germany and France where he taught people about holiness, conscience, education, and theology. With time he became a teacher for men and women in many other countries of the world. Today, November 1, 2025, Pope Leo XIV, has declared John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church. With this designation the Church proposes Newman as a teacher for the Universal Church. In the homily for the Mass closing the Jubilee for educators, the pope said, “Newman’s impressive spiritual and cultural stature will surely serve as an inspiration to new generations whose hearts thirst for the infinite, and who, through research and knowledge, are willing to undertake that journey which, as the ancients said, takes us per aspera ad astra, through difficulties to the stars.”
A teacher instructs and guides; Newman does this in a compelling manner with intellectual depth and clarity as well as great psychological insight.
But for those of us who have studied his life and writings for years, John Henry is more than a doctor; he is our good friend. He has taught us to think, weighing our thoughts, looking at matters in a measured way, connecting truths and impressions. Newman has taught us to pray and to live with trust in God’s loving providence. When we look at his picture we recognize a friend. With him and through him we have become friends of God. Newman, the teacher has become our friend and we have become friends of Christ, the Teacher.
Today Pope Leo XVI reminded us that amid the darkness and temptations of life we should have hope in God. He recalled St. John Henry’s prayer: Lead Kindly Light, Lead Thou me on. The night is dark, and I am far from home. Lead Thou me on. The pope continued: “The task of education is precisely to offer this Kindly Light to those who might otherwise remain imprisoned by the particularly insidious shadows of pessimism and fear.”
Celebrating All Saints day, we praise God for his saints and thank Him for his saints in whom we experience his greatness, truth and kindness. In St. John Henry Newman we truly have a doctor of the faith and a trustworthy friend.
