Scottish Catholic Observer

The Catholic Church in England has expressed ‘great joy’ at a possible second miracle that could lead to the Canonisation of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Chicago Archdiocese is investigating a young mother who overcame a ‘life-threatening’ pregnancy after praying for the intercession of the late cardinal (above). If the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood verifies the miracle, Blessed Cardinal Newman will become the first British saint since 1970.

Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham described the news as a ‘great joy.’

“It would be an encouragement to all who have been inspired by him seek the truth by seeking Christ,” he said.

“At the same time, and especially during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, I am sure that Blessed John Henry Newman would want us to continue praying for the canonisation of Blessed Dominic Barberi, the Passionist priest who first enabled him to receive the Sacrament of mercy at his reception into full communion with the Catholic Church at Littlemore in 1845 and who gave him a new insight into the merciful love of God.”

Pope Benedict XVI Beatified Blessed Cardinal Newman in 2010 after the Vatican verified the ‘inexplicable’ healing of Jack Sullivan from a crippling spinal condition that left him ‘bent double.’

Cardinal Newman was a leading figure in the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales

Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth hopes that this legacy will see Blessed Cardinal Newman declared a Doctor of the Church on Canonisation.

Vatican officials are also studying the Causes of Mother Elizabeth Prout who ran a Passionist order working with the poor in Manchester and Mother Riccarda Beauchamp Hambrough, a Bridgettine nun who helped to rescue Jews from the Nazis in the Second World War.

Like Cardinal Newman, all of these post-Reformation candidates for sainthood were converts to the Catholic Faith.