When people hear the name of Cardinal Newman, one of the first associations they make is to his Idea of a University. However, it is rarely known that his first love was Catholic education at the elementary and secondary levels, so that the Oratory School he founded has been described as the “apple of his eye.” Interestingly, Pope Francis is the first pontiff in modern history, at least, to have taught high school (chemistry and Latin) and who has reflected extensively (...) on his own personal experiences of being raised by the Salesian Fathers in Argentina. Both Newman and Francis would regard Catholic elementary and secondary schools as essential to producing what Newman repeatedly referred to as “an educated laity” – equally essential for what St. John Paul II dubbed “the new evangelization.”. (shrink)

When people hear the name of Cardinal Newman, one of the first associations they make is to his Idea of a University. However, it is rarely known that his first love was Catholic education at the elementary and secondary levels, so that the Oratory School he founded has been described as the “apple of his eye.” Interestingly, Pope Francis is the first pontiff in modern history, at least, to have taught high school and who has reflected extensively on his own (...) personal experiences of being raised by the Salesian Fathers in Argentina. Both Newman and Francis would regard Catholic elementary and secondary schools as essential to producing what Newman repeatedly referred to as “an educated laity” – equally essential for what St. John Paul II dubbed “the new evangelization.”. (shrink)

Papers presented at the Conference of the Cardinal Newman Society, November, 2001, the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman seemingly had the “Midas touch” in reverse. Oxford, Littlemore, Dublin were all sites of failures; the “Achilli Affair” was a humiliation; the quarrel with Faber was an embarrassment. Nonetheless, most people today think of Newman as a rousing success story. Why? Newman serves as an object lesson in living the Paschal Mystery, whereby each moment of crisis can be transformed into a moment of grace.