Pope to Beatify Cardinal Newman in England
The Catholic Herald reports that Pope Benedict XVI will break his own rules and beatify John Henry Cardinal Newman himself during his upcoming trip to the UK.
The Pope is to waive his own rules so he can preside in person over the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman during a papal visit to Britain next year, according to sources close to the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI will personally take charge of the ceremony to declare the Victorian convert Blessed when he visits England in early September at the invitation of Gordon Brown.
The Pope has previously insisted that all beatifications are carried out by a Vatican official in the diocese in which the candidate died, which in Newman’s case is Birmingham.
But because the Pope has such a strong devotion to Cardinal Newman and his theological writings he has decided to break his own rules and beatify the cardinal himself.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster refused to either confirm or deny the report: “The details of the Pope’s visit are far from clear,” he said. “What is clear is that the Holy Father has a great and long-standing devotion to Cardinal Newman and the beatification of Cardinal Newman is due.”
Fr Ian Ker, author of the definitive biography of Cardinal Newman, said: “By breaking his own rules Pope Benedict clearly shows he regards Newman as a completely exceptional case, one of the great theologians of the Catholic Church. Many of the popes have been anxious to canonise Newman. They look to him as a man who welcomed modernisation but in fidelity to Church authority and in continuity with the traditions of the Church.”
Pope Benedict announced the beatification in July after Vatican theologians ruled that the inexplicable healing of Jack Sullivan, an American with a severe spinal condition, was a miracle brought about by praying for help to Cardinal Newman.
about 2 months ago
An interesting element contained within this article should give pause to those who are parsing the Apostolic Constitution with the vigorous claim that statements contained there in are immutable, and thus any idea as to the amendment or waiver are impossible. This example of the Holy Father, “breaking his own rule…” due to devotional and pastoral considerations, is noteworthy in that it demostrates a flexibility regarding rules and norms that many seem to overlook or deny. In the context of the AC it must be understood that the Pope can do the same thing, i.e., grant dispensations (cf. CIC [1983] 1047, 1049). This particular case shows that when he deems it appropriate, he wills.