A Saint For Campus Ministry

It is now confirmed that Pope Benedict will beatify Henry Cardinal Newman in September! Cardinal Newman is considered the father of campus ministry, which is why so many of the centers are (or once were) called Newman Centers.

From an email from the Cardinal Newman Society.

It's official! In an extraordinary move, Pope Benedict XVI himself will beatify John Henry Cardinal Newman this September in England.

This puts Newman one step away from sainthood!

Thomas Peters has more from Very Rev. Richard Duffield, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Actor of the cause of John Henry Newman:

The Fathers and many friends of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in September. Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life, first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.

The Holy Father’s life-long devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth and significance of our founder’s legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have drawn inspiration from Newman’s life and work.

The Pope will be visiting the UK soon as well.