Scholars praise newest Church doctor’s defense of Catholicism

A portrait of a young St. John Henry Newman hangs in Cathedral High School, part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, in Houston. / Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 1, 2025 / 09:15 am (CNA).

English saint and convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism John Henry Newman was approved for the title “doctor of the Church” on July 31 — one of the highest honors a Catholic can receive from the Holy See.

Theologians, historians, priests, and other Catholic scholars expressed excitement about the announcement, citing Newman’s contributions to theology, philosophy, and education in the 19th century when the Church was combating the rise of modernism and Enlightenment-era rationalism.

Michael Sirilla, a professor of theology at Franciscan University, explained that “the broad sense of doctor in Latin — it just means ‘teacher,’” noting that the Holy See bestows the title on the “great and notable teachers in the Church.”

Newman, he noted, “did not write pure theology” in the sense of authoring theological treatises but provided significant contributions “refuting theological errors” of his time. The English saint, he said, “is a suitable doctor for the modern period of the Church.”

Michael Sirilla is a professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, and a fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Studies. Credit: Photo courtesy of Franciscan University of Steubenville

“Without question, Newman is either the best or the second-best writer of theology in the English language — second only perhaps to St. Thomas More,” Sirilla told CNA.

“He’s a champion,” Sirilla added. “He’s one of the heroes against early forms of modernism.”

Patrick Reilly, the founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, expressed joy in the announcement. His organization promotes strong and faithful Catholic education, a major priority of Newman’s during his life, highlighted in the saint’s book “The Idea of a University.”

“He is truly a most important saint for modern times: his fight against relativism and weak faith, his response to persecution of Catholics, and especially his vision for faithful Catholic education championed by The Cardinal Newman Society,” Reilly said in a post on LinkedIn.

Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas (a Catholic institution), noted that Newman’s writings and his conversion had a major impact on the English-speaking world in the 1800s. His conversion marked “a major cultural event in the Protestant English-speaking world,” she told CNA.

“It launched waves of English Protestant conversions to the Roman Catholic Church that have come to [be] called the second and third spring of English Catholicism,” she said. “This steady stream of Protestants coming ‘home’ to Rome continues to this day.”

University of Dallas history professor Susan Hanssen. Credit: Photo courtesy of Susan Hanssen

Father Dwight Longenecker, a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism, echoed that sentiment.

“His progress through Anglicanism to the Catholic faith was an adventure that blazed the trail for many to follow,” he told CNA. “As such, his status as a doctor of the Church will advance his influence for non-Catholic Christians who are seeking the fullness of the faith in the Catholic Church.”

Jennifer Bryson — a fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center who recently translated German Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres’ book “John Henry Newman: A Life Sacrificed” — noted that Newman’s reach also extended substantially beyond the English-speaking world and in the aftermath of World War II was a particular source of inspiration for German Catholics.

A fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, last year Jennifer S. Bryson, PhD, translated from German into English the book "John Henry Newman: A Life Sacrificed" by Catholic author Ida Friederike Görres. Credit: "EWTN News In Depth"/Screenshot

Germans like Görres, who Bryson said were “coming out of a horror and breakdown of society,” saw Newman as “somebody who had understood the challenges of the modern world and remained Catholic and saw a Catholic way forward in the modern world.”

Noting Newman’s writings that challenged anti-Catholic philosophies of his day, Bryson said Newman was an example of what it meant “to be Catholic and remain Catholic in a world that was driving off ideological cliffs.”

Newman, who was born in London in 1801, spent his early adult life as an evangelical Anglican priest before shifting to a more traditional high-church Anglicanism. As an Anglican, he helped combat Enlightenment-era philosophies and liberalizing trends within Protestantism. He was a well-respected figure among Anglicans during that time.

As Newman delved deeper into the history of Christianity, he finally converted to Catholicism in 1845. In the year he converted, he wrote, “to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”

Newman was ordained a Catholic priest in 1847 and Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal in 1879. He continued his theological writings throughout his life. During his time as an Anglican and a Catholic, Newman wrote about 40 books and more than 20,000 letters.

Sirilla said one of Newman’s most important contributions in his arguments with Protestants was his explanation of the development of doctrine in Catholicism. Sirilla said doctrinal development understood properly “preserves [tradition] and builds upon it” rather than adheres to the warped view that “the Church can teach something contrary to what it has taught in the past.”

“[It’s a] development of doctrine based on what has been revealed by God,” Sirilla said.

In the same year he converted, Newman published a nearly 450-page book titled “An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.” In it, he defended Catholic doctrines against Protestant attacks, including purgatory and original sin.

“Modern Catholicism is nothing else but simply the legitimate growth and complement, that is, the natural and necessary development, of the doctrine of the early Church, and … its divine authority is included in the divinity of Christianity,” Newman wrote.

Tom Nash, a staff apologist at Catholic Answers, told CNA that Newman’s “great contributions to our understanding of development of doctrine” is one of the first things that comes to his mind when thinking about the saint.

“Newman shows that authentic doctrinal development necessarily must be organic,” Nash said. “That is, if a change occurs, the basic structure of an organism or system remains.”

Another major contribution from Newman was his refutation of Enlightenment-era rationalism, which Sirilla described as a “view that man’s reason is a higher authority than God’s revelation.”

“Man’s reason must be … informed by God’s revelation,” Sirilla said.

Newman wrote numerous works against Enlightenment-era concepts, particularly the writings of Scottish philosopher David Hume, who died 25 years before Newman was born. In one letter, Newman wrote critically of Hume’s assertion that the belief in miracles is irrational.

“[Miracles] are presented to us, not as unconnected and unmeaning occurrences, but as holding a place in an extensive plan of divine government, completing the moral system, connecting man and his maker, and introducing him to the means of securing his happiness in another and eternal state of being,” he wrote. “That such is the professed object of the body of Christian miracles can hardly be denied.”

Pope Francis canonized Newman in 2019. Pope Leo XIV’s July 31 announcement will make Newman the 38th doctor of the Church.