Newman and Christian Spirituality Introductory Reflections

Cardinal Ivan Dias

As Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, it is a pleasure for me to recall that, at the age of forty-five, the recently converted John Henry Newman was sent to Rome by Archbishop Wise- man, his ecclesiastical superior, with the purpose of deepening his knowl- edge of the Catholic faith. He was a guest for a year at our Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide in the Piazza di Spagna. Here, he received priestly ordination on May 30, 1846, in the Cappella dei Re Magi, and celebrated his First Mass in the cappellina on the first floor, that is today named after him. It is in this cappellina of the Blessed Newman that new Bishops of Mission Lands make a Profession of Faith and take an Oath of Fidelity to the Church before receiving episcopal ordination and beginning their pastoral office. These two chapels are now the destinations of numer- ous pilgrimages. Among the visitors, there have been His Grace Rowan Williams, Primate of the Anglican Communion, the Bishops of England and Wales during their ad limina visit, as well as some Anglican Bishops. Inspired by the cardinalate motto of the Blessed Newman, Cor ad cor loquitur, I would like to share with you a personal testimony: I must con- fess that the personality of Cardinal Newman has fascinated me since the time I was a student at Bombay Major Seminary in India; furthermore, I had the good fortune of having as Archbishop, Cardinal Valeriano Gracias, who was also enamoured with Newman. He had a collection of his writings, and knew them almost by heart. Note, moreover, that he quoted Cardinal Newman in his interventions during the Second Vatican Coun- cil. I can also confide to you that every day I recite the beautiful prayer composed by Cardinal Newman, “Radiating Christ,” when I wake in the morning and during Holy Mass, after having received Holy Communion. Also, Mother Teresa of Calcutta often recited this prayer with much devo- tion. I then had the extraordinary grace to have been created Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001, precisely on the day recalling the 200th birthday of our Blessed Newman.

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Cardinal Newman has indeed been a precursor of the Second Vati- can Council and a prophet for modern times. He indicated the danger of so-called religious liberalism, so fashionable today, and he would have immensely enjoyed reading the considerations and reflecting on the arrangements that, nearly one hundred years after his death, are the sub- ject of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI, speaking of Cardinal Newman, described him as a personality of “exceptional greatness for our time,” “a scholar of great stature, an outstanding writer and poet, a wise man of God, whose thought illu- mined many consciences and still today exerts an extraordinary fascination.”1 He even exalted him as a type of Doctor of the Church.2 In the homily for the Mass of Beatification in Birmingham on September 19, 2010, the Pontiff pointed out three principal teachings of Blessed Newman on which he reflected during his visit to England: “His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education … continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world.”3 “Blessed Newman,” said Pope Benedict XVI, “lived the whole prob- lem of modernity”4 and he “still has much to teach us about Christian living and witness amid the challenges of today’s world, the challenges which he foresaw with such a remarkable clarity;”5 “his writings still pre- serve a formidable contemporary relevance and they deserve to be known by all.”6 It is in this general framework that we now desire to explore the rich thoughts of Cardinal Newman on Newman and Christian Spirituality.

Cardinal Ivan Dias is Prefect of the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples.

1. Benedict XVI, General Audience on the Journey to the United Kingdom, L’Osservatore Romano (29 September 2010) 8. 2. Benedict XVI, The Holy Father’s in-flight press conference, L’Osservatore Romano (22 September 2010) 4. 3. Benedict XVI, Homily for the Beatification, Mass at Cofton Park, Birming- ham, L’Osservatore Romano (22 September 2010) 22. 4. Benedict XVI, The Holy Father’s in-flight press conference, L’Osservatore Romano (22 September 2010) 4. 5. Benedict XVI, Farewell Ceremony at Birmingham International Airport, L’Osservatore Romano (22 September 2010) 25. 6. Benedict XVI, General Audience on the Journey to the United Kingdom, L’Osservatore Romano (29 September 2010) 6.

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