Show Notes
Father Francis Gavin was born and raised in Dublin and is a priest of the Birmingham Oratory. He is perfectly placed, therefore, to offer today's reflection on Newman and Ireland. When we talk about Newman and Ireland, we usually dwell on his time in Dublin when he worked to establish a Catholic University there. While the university didn’t succeed quite as Newman had wished, the discourses which Newman gave during this time, and which were later collected together as The Idea of the University, have proved seminal. Fr Francis reflects on Newman's time in Ireland and, interestingly, the impact his Irish sojourn had on him as a man, and how he slowly revised his opinion and understanding of Ireland and its people. "As a native Dubliner it is with no small pleasure that I announce that if you wish to see a church which Newman built you will have to cross the Irish Sea and visit the University Church on St. Stephen’s Green. This is a hidden gem built by John Hungerford Pollen according to the wishes of Newman, who was then Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland. "
More from Journeying With Newman
Today's 'Journeying With Newman' podcast, a new offering to mark the first anniversary of the Canonisation of Saint John Henry Newman, looks back ten years to the Oratorian's Beatification in Birmingham. These words come from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's homily at Cofton Park when the then-Holy Father declared Newman 'Blessed'.
Brother Emmanuel Durant is a Dominican academic who teaches theology at the Angelicum in Rome. In this podcast, he examines John Henry Newman's teaching on Divine Providence and Human Agency.
Today's reflection for our 'Journeying With Newman' podcast series is notable as it's the first episode released after the canonisation. John Henry Newman is now a saint. Dr. Andrew Meszaros is a lecturer in Systematic Theology at Ireland’s Pontifical University, Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. His focus falls today on Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. "The power of Newman’s prose comes, in part, from the cumulative weight that accrues from all his examples of how the various elements of the Christian tradition all stand and fall together... Newman reminds us that to pick one aspect of Christianity, and reject another is tantamount to a false Christianity. And conversely, we should remember that all that we believe and do as Catholics is in some way related to the core of our faith. Nothing authentically Catholic is insignificant."
Historian and commentator Joanna Bogle gives us an entertaining and insightful reflection on Newman and the Church with a particular historical focus on the Church as the guardian of truth. "[The Church] is glorious in her cherishing of truth: we cannot, we must not, ever allow ourselves to do less than honour her. Her story is a great one. Saints and martyrs, heroes and heroines, great missionary endeavours, glorious art and music, the foundations of modern sciences and of the great universities… and much, much more. We cannot, we must not, dismiss or ignore all of this, muddled though it all is – and muddied too by cruelty and injustice, by human sin and error. "In John Henry Newman, we find a passion for truth that we should follow. It is his greatest single gift to us."
Today's 'Journeying With Newman' podcast is a reflection from Fortunato Morrone - a parish priest from Italy and teacher of Systematic Theology at the Calabrian Theological Institute.