Pope Leo to make St John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church
The Catholic Herald• July 31, 2025
Pope Leo XIV will proclaim his first Doctor of the Church by elevating St. John Henry Newman to one of the most highly esteemed positions in the history of sainthood and of the Catholic Church.
On 31 July, Pope Leo received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, reports EWTN Vatican.
During the meeting, the “positive opinion of the Dicastery's Plenary Session” was confirmed, meaning that St. John Henry Newman will be proclaimed a Doctor of the Universal Church.
A Doctor of the Church is a person whose teachings on the Catholic Faith through their writing, study or research has been deemed of great significance to the Church and to the Faith.
Along with making a significant theological contribution, the person must also display a high degree of sanctity, which is why all Doctors of the Church are also canonised saints. The third requirement to become of Doctor of the Church is formal proclamation by a pope or an ecumenical council.
Currently there are 37 Doctors of the Church. Some are very well-known saints, like Ss Jerome and Augustine, while others are more obscure, likely only known in Catholic academic circles, reports OSV News.
It notes that only four women in Church history have been risen to the distinction: Ss Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and Thérèse of Lisieux.
St John Henry Newman holds a particularly special place in English Catholicism due to his incredible intellect and prodigious writings, his relative contemporaneousness – being born in 1801 in London and dying in 1890 in Birmingham – and having converted from Anglicanism before he was made an English cardinal.
He is also England's most recently appointed saint – becoming the first English saint in 300 years – after being beatified on 19 September 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI and then canonised on 13 October 2019 by Pope Francis.
St John Henry Newman will become the 38th Doctor of the Church after the formal proclamation by Pope Leo XIV.
It will make Newman only the second English saint to become a Doctor of the Church, following in the footsteps of St Bede – though some might argue he will become the third if you include St Anselm of Canterbury, an Italian by birth but English by adoption.
Photo: The glasses and personal items of then Cardinal John Henry Newman lie on his writing desk in his living quarters, which have been untouched since his death in 1890, in the Birmingham Oratory, Birmingham, England, 11 August 2010. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.)