John Henry Newman to be canonised in October

John Henry Newman, the theologian, educational reformer and founder of University College Dublin (UCD), is to be canonised on Sunday, October 13th, the Vatican has announced.

Pope Francis formally approved Newman's elevation to sainthood at a consistory of cardinals on Monday.

Newman, who was beatified in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI giving him the title of "blessed", was one of the most prominent converts to Catholicism from Anglicanism of the 19th century. In Ireland, he was best known for his role in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, later UCD.

The founding of the university aimed to create a Catholic professional class, as well as establish the intellectual headquarters for Catholics of the English-speaking world.

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Converted

Born in London in 1801, Newman converted to Catholicism in 1845 and moved to Dublin in 1854 to set up the new university. He also lectured at the Rotunda for a time. After leaving his position as rector at the university, he published these and a series of other lectures titled The Idea of a University.

Newman was proclaimed venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1991. Two miracles necessary for his canonisation have been approved by the Vatican. The first concerned a man who claimed to have been cured of near-total paralysis after praying to Newman in 2001. The second, approved in November 2018, attributed to Newman the healing of a pregnant woman with a life-threatening condition.