by Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle*
We publish the address given by the Cardinal Tagle at the opening of the academic event organized by the Pontifical Urbaniana University to commemorate the proclamation of Saint John Henry Newman as a Doctor of the Church.
The academic event, entitled “The Vocation of a Doctor of the Church: Saint John Henry Newman, from the College of Propaganda to the Universal Church,” took place in the John Paul II Auditorium of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
During the event, Professor Vincenzo Buonomo, Pontifical Delegate and Rector of the University, read the Chirograph by which Pope Leo XIV decreed the proclamation of John Henry Newman, Saint and now Doctor of the Church, as patron of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
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Rome – We all remember well how, two days ago, Pope Leo XIV declared Saint John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church and, together with Saint Thomas Aquinas, a “co-patron of the Church’s educational mission.” We feel particular joy at this event because Newman was a former student of the Collegio de Propaganda Fide, where he studied theology from 1846 to 1847 in preparation for his ordination as a Catholic priest.
As we celebrate the new Doctor of the Church, I would like to deepen some reflections regarding his role as an important teacher for all those engaged in the Church’s evangelizing mission. I believe that an important aspect of Newman’s figure, as a former student of the Collegio de Propaganda Fide and now a Doctor of the Church of the Universal Church is that of being a “Doctor of Mission”.
I would like to highlight three points for reflection.
First, those who are engaged in missionary work and wish to lead others to the joy of faith can greatly benefit from the rich writings of Saint John Henry Newman on the act of faith, on how people come to faith. Indeed, Newman was deeply aware of the crisis of faith that Britain and Europe experienced in the 19th century. It was a matter that affected him personally, since his younger brother, Francis Newman, once a devout Evangelical, had abandoned the Christian faith and its doctrines and developed his own Unitarian belief.
Saint John Henry Newman rejected the superficial notion that faith is an act of pure reason or an intellectual decision made after convincing evidence had been presented to the mind.
This led him, in various writings from “The Arians of the Fourth Century” in 1833 and the “University Sermons” in 1843 to his most mature exposition in “Grammar of Assent” in 1870, to examine the extent to which the act of faith depends more on a person’s personal and moral dispositions than on pure reason. Belonging to the faith depended not only on being convinced by rational arguments but also on certain qualities such as trust, humility, openness, and longing. He pointed out that one cannot simply lead others to faith by presenting the best arguments; rather, one must try to form hearts and expand the imagination by increasing the capacity of the mind and heart to receive God’s revelation. This is a position that is part of both theological method and pastoral practice. This is a position that all those engaged in evangelization must learn, uphold, and put into practice.
Secondly, those engaged in mission can learn from Newman not to fear changes and developments within the Church. Newman began his famous “Essay on the Development of Doctrine” in 1844 to address the inner conflicts he faced, as he felt drawn to the Roman Catholic Church but was aware of the accusation that the Catholic Church had abandoned the original faith, the faith of the early Church, by adding numerous interpretations to the pure faith handed down by the Apostles.
Newman found enlightenment in the idea of development: A message as rich as the Christian proclamation requires time and generations to unfold and be understood; moreover, development occurs through an ongoing process in which Christians receive, interpret, and make the Gospel their own within the specific cultural circumstances and historical events in which they live. One of the criteria Newman identifies for an authentic or true development of faith is its “assimilative power,” that is, Christianity’s ability to incorporate elements of new cultures or contexts as expressions of the Gospel without losing its own identity. In Newman’s words: For him, innovation and change are not a betrayal of identity, but rather necessary so that Christian identity can be embraced, understood, and lived by different people and under different circumstances, and thus preserved. Newman therefore encourages us to be confident and creative in the inculturation of the faith.
As a third and final point, I would like to invite you to consider that in our commitment to building up the particular churches, we can benefit from Newman’s fundamental insights into the importance of the laity and the crucial significance of their education and formation. His 1859 essay, “On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine,” found little resonance or attention at the time, but his findings were confirmed by the Second Vatican Council, particularly in the Decree “Apostolicam Actuositatem.” Newman did not deny that in the Church the “munus docendi,” which expresses the doctrinal function, belongs to the hierarchy. He also insisted, however, that the laity were not merely passive recipients of the Truth, but active participants in disseminating and bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel.
It caused quite a stir when, to support this view, he gave the historical example of how, in the fourth century, during a brief period in the course of the Arian controversy, many bishops and theologians fell into the heresy of Arius, while the vast majority of the baptized remained faithful to the truth of Christ’s divinity.
Hence Newman’s insistence on the importance of an active and educated laity so that, to use his beautiful expression, there can be a “conspiratio,” a shared breathing of pastors and faithful to bear witness to the Gospel together.
These are just a few examples of the areas that could be explored in greater depth as we celebrate the new Doctor of the Church, particularly at our University, which has a special interest in mission. For this reason, we are all called to recognize and invoke him as the “Doctor of Mission.” .
*Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization , Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University
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