Cardinal Newman: Doctor of Catholic Education, Part Two

Editor’s note: The following is Part Two of an address given to The Thomistic Institute of Fordham University on February 26, 2026 (read Part One).

3. Does a Catholic university have a distinctive curriculum?

John Paul II would seem to think so, and it is what we might call “the humanum.” Sounding an awful lot like the old pagan Roman poet Terence, with his “nihil humanum mihi alienum est,” the Holy Father argues that “there is only one culture: that of man, by man and for man.” He goes on: “And thanks to her Catholic universities and their humanistic and scientific inheritance, the Church, expert in humanity, . . . explores the mysteries of humanity and of the world, clarifying them in the light of Revelation” (n. 3). Even more boldly, he declares: “By means of a kind of universal humanism, a Catholic university is completely dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth, Who is God” (n. 4), with the result that Catholic institutions of higher learning “are called to explore courageously the riches of Revelation and of nature, so that the united endeavor of intelligence and faith will enable people to come to the full measure of their humanity” (n. 5).

What does Newman envision for a Catholic university curriculum? The Cardinal observes that, although Pope St. Gregory the Great was not particularly fond of the literature of the pagan Greeks and Romans (even though he knew it all very well), he was said by his biographer “to have supported the hall of the Apostolic See upon the columns of the Seven Liberal Arts.”¹³

As Newman presented his ideas for the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, he applied this generic concept to a model for a curriculum:

. . . Civilization too has its common principles, and views, and teaching, and especially its books, which have more or less been given from the earliest of times. . . . In a word, the classics, and the subjects of thought and the studies to which they give rise, or, to use the term most dear to our present purpose, the Arts, have ever, on the whole, been the instruments of education which the civilized orbis terrarum has adopted. . . . And this consideration, you see, . . . invests [our project] with a solemnity and moment of a peculiar kind, for we are but reiterating an old tradition, and carrying on those august methods of enlarging the mind, and cultivating the intellect, and refining the feelings, in which the process of civilization has ever consisted.¹⁴

Few commentators have missed how Newman was most impressed by the role “personal influence” played in the lives of people, as was the sainted Pope, who stressed the critical importance of having faculty and administrators provide appropriate role models for the student population. John Paul II also underscores the “irreplaceable lay vocation” in the university apostolate (n. 25). Yet again, the Holy Father relies on Newman’s apprehension here: “Cardinal Newman describes the ideal to be sought in this way: ‘A habit of mind is formed which lasts through life, of which the attributes are freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation, and wisdom.’”¹⁵

“The humanum” comes across loud and clear again.

4. What is the place of theology within the curriculum?

Is there a place? Cardinal Newman framed it as a syllogism:

A university, I should lay down, by its very name professes to teach universal knowledge. Theology is surely a branch of knowledge: how then is it possible to profess all branches of knowledge, and yet to exclude from the subjects of its teaching one which, to say the least, is as important and as large as any of them? I do not see that either premiss of this argument is open to exception.¹⁶

Ex Corde notes the central place of theology in a Catholic institution of higher learning and the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to the various subjects, such that the unity of all truth is acknowledged and becomes apparent. Therefore, we read that theology “serves all other disciplines in their search for meaning, not only by helping them to investigate how their discoveries will affect individuals and society but also by bringing a perspective and an orientation not contained within their own methodologies.”

However, this is not a one-way street, for the “interaction with these other disciplines and their discoveries enriches theology, offering it a better understanding of the world today, and making theological research more relevant to current needs” (n. 19). Hence, the need for every Catholic university to “have a faculty, or at least a chair, of theology.” Needless to say, the Pope observes that Catholic theology must be “taught in a manner faithful to Scripture, Tradition and the Church’s Magisterium” (n. 20).

5. What is the relationship between the Catholic university and the Church?

The Pope tackles this core problem of the past five decades, begun with the Land o’ Lakes Statement in 1967.¹⁷ In the most unequivocal terms possible, he asserts that such a relationship “is essential to [the university’s] institutional identity.” Furthermore, he declares that non-Catholic members of the university community “are required to respect the Catholic character” of the institution, even as the university “respects their religious liberty” (n. 27). But more than a century before John Paul II, Cardinal Newman—that great advocate of academic freedom—was capable of stating in the strongest language: “Hence a direct and active jurisdiction of the Church over [a Catholic university] and in it is necessary, lest it should become the rival of the Church with the community at large in those theological matters which to the Church are exclusively committed.”¹⁸

And there is more: “It is no sufficient security for the Catholicity of a university, even that the whole of Catholic theology should be professed in it, unless the Church breathes her own pure and unearthly spirit into it, and fashions and molds its organization, and watches over its teaching, and knits together its pupils, and superintends its action.”¹⁹ Interestingly, Newman brings forth as an example of an institution that ran amok, precisely because of the lack of a direct link to the institutional Church, the Spanish Inquisition.²⁰

It would seem appropriate to end this section by citing Pope Benedict’s prayer intention for October 2010: “That Catholic universities may more and more be places where, in the light of the Gospel, it is possible to experience the harmonious unity existing between faith and reason.”

Putting It All Together

Back to more “local” or “national” concerns. The commitment to founding and maintaining schools has been a hallmark of Catholic life in the United States from the very beginning – a point highlighted by Pope Benedict XVI as he addressed Catholic educators in Washington on April 17, 2008. He noted:

. . . the history of this nation includes many examples of the Church’s commitment in this regard. The Catholic community here has in fact made education one of its highest priorities. This undertaking has not come without great sacrifice. Towering figures, like Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (another former Anglican, by the way) and other founders and foundresses, with great tenacity and foresight, laid the foundations of what is today a remarkable network of parochial schools contributing to the spiritual well-being of the Church and the nation.

He went on:

This sacrifice continues today. It is an outstanding apostolate of hope, seeking to address the material, intellectual and spiritual needs of over three million children and students. . . . Their long-term sustainability must be assured. Indeed, everything possible must be done, in cooperation with the wider community, to ensure that they are accessible to people of all social and economic strata. No child should be denied his or her right to an education in faith, which in turn nurtures the soul of a nation.

The Pope acknowledged that “some today question the Church’s involvement in education, wondering whether her resources might be better placed elsewhere.” He dismissed such a notion and spent the rest of his talk explaining why such an approach would be harmful to both the Church and society-at-large.

The Pope, who so appreciated our American Catholic schools, in 1979, meeting with Catholic high school students in Madison Square Garden, Saint John Paul II, asked why the Church expends so much time and energy and resources on Catholic schools. He answered his own question succinctly: “To communicate Christ.” Are contemporary Catholic elementary and secondary schools “communicating Christ”? Consider the hard data: Catholic school graduates are more likely to attend Sunday Mass;²¹ to believe in the Real presence;²² to regard themselves still Catholic;²³ to consider and follow through on a priestly vocation.²⁴

Wrapping up with Pope Leo

Every pope, since Pius XII, had expressed a hope that Newman would one day be declared a Doctor of the Church (but first they had to get him canonized!). That privileged possibility fell to our present Holy Father.

But a doctor of what? The possibilities were manifold: Of conscience? Of doctrinal development? Of ecumenism? Well, Pope Leo has taught at every level of the Catholic educational continuum, which probably persuaded him that, in declaring Newman a Doctor of the Church, he would make him “Doctor of Catholic Education.” In fact, on the vigil of that declaration, he told us himself why and also gave us educators a road map forward with reference to his own personal patron, Saint Augustine::

I, too, have been a teacher in the educational institutions of the Order of Saint Augustine. I would like, therefore, to share my experience with you by focusing on four aspects of the doctrine of the Doctor Gratiae that I consider fundamental to Christian education: interiority, unity, love, and joy. These are the principles that I would like to become the key elements of our journey together, making this meeting the beginning of a shared path of mutual growth and enrichment.²⁵

In his apostolic letter, Drawing New Maps of Hope, commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis and promulgated during the same Jubilee celebration, Pope Leo brings into one the insights of Newman, Augustine, and John Paul II—all champions of the search for truth—as he makes a very contemporary application:

We live in a world dominated by technological screens and filters that are often superficial, whereas students need help to get in touch with their inner selves. And not only them, but educators too, who are often tired and overburdened with bureaucratic tasks, run the real risk of forgetting what Saint John Henry Newman summed up in the expression: cor ad cor loquitur (“heart speaks unto heart”) and what Saint Augustine said: “Do not look without, return to yourself, for truth dwells within you” (De Vera Religione, 39, 72). These words invite us to view formation as a path that teachers and pupils walk together (cf. Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, 15 August 1990, 1). They are aware that they are not searching in vain, and at the same time know that they must continue searching even after having made discoveries. Only this humble and shared effort – which in school contexts takes the form of an educational project – can bring students and teachers closer to the truth.

Further on, in that same document, he makes the “Newmanian” connection even more explicit as he quotes the newly minted Doctor of the Church directly:

Therefore, the question of the relationship between faith and reason is not an optional chapter: “Religious Truth is not only a portion, but a condition of general knowledge.”. These words of Saint John Henry Newman – whom, in the context of this Jubilee of the World of Education, I have the great joy of declaring co-patron of the Church’s educational mission together with Saint Thomas Aquinas – are an invitation to renew our commitment to knowledge that is as intellectually responsible and rigorous as it is deeply human.

Then the Pope hits on two very neuralgic issues (which shouldn’t be but, unfortunately, often are), namely, the personal, coherent witness of Catholic educators and the problem of “compartmentalization”—matters very dear to the heart of Newman. And so, we read:

The Catholic school is an environment in which faith, culture and life intertwine. It is not simply an institution, but rather a living environment in which the Christian vision permeates every discipline and every interaction. Educators are called to a responsibility that goes beyond the work contract: their witness has the same value as their lessons. For this reason, the formation of teachers – scientific, pedagogic, cultural and spiritual – is decisive.

To form the “whole” person means avoiding compartmentalization. When it is true, faith is not an added “subject,” but a breath that oxygenates every other subject. Thus, Catholic education becomes leaven in the human community: it generates reciprocity, overcomes reductionism, and opens up to social responsibility. The task today is to dare to pursue an integral humanism that addresses the questions of our time without losing sight of its source. (n. 5.2)

You will recall that early on in this presentation, I spoke of the importance of one level of Catholic education “feeding” into the next. Leo puts it more poetically:

I speak of a “constellation”, because the world of Catholic education is a living and pluralistic network: parish schools and colleges, universities and institutes of higher education, professional training centres, movements, digital platforms, service-learning initiatives and school, university and cultural pastoral programmes. Each “star” has its own brightness, but together they chart a course. Where in the past there was rivalry, now we ask the institutions to converge: unity is our most prophetic strength. (n. 8.1)

Very realistically, the Pope acknowledges the “darkness” in which we must exercise our educational apostolate, but does not succumb to fatalism; rather, he has recourse to our new Doctor of the Church: “. . . the darkness that surrounds us echoes one of Saint John Henry Newman’s best-known texts, the hymn “Lead, Kindly Light.” In that beautiful prayer, we come to realize that we are far from home, our feet are unsteady, we cannot interpret clearly the way ahead. Yet none of this impedes us, since we have found our Guide: “Lead, Kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on;” “Lead, Kindly Light, The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on.”

He goes on:

The lasting legacy of Saint John Henry Newman includes some very significant contributions to the theory and practice of education. He wrote, “God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next” (Meditations and Devotions, III, I, 2). In these words, we find beautifully expressed the mystery of the dignity of every human person, and also the variety of gifts distributed by God.

The Holy Father concludes his homily thus: “I pray that Catholic education will help each person to discover their own call to holiness. Saint Augustine, whom Saint John Henry Newman greatly admired, once said that we are fellow students who have one Teacher, whose school is on earth and whose chair is in Heaven” (cf. Serm. 292,1). May it be so for each of us and for all our beloved Catholic schools.

Read original article