Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has officially inscribed St. John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar, granting him an optional memorial to be observed annually on October 9. The decision was announced by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in a decree released on Tuesday, February 3.
According to the decree, the inclusion of St. John Henry Newman in the universal liturgical calendar reflects his “outstanding significance for the entire community of the faithful,” particularly in light of his recent recognition as a Doctor of the Church. The optional memorial will commemorate October 9, the historic day in 1845 when Newman was received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
St. John Henry Newman was a prominent 19th-century English intellectual who began his ministry as an Anglican priest before embracing Catholicism, a journey that profoundly shaped modern Christian thought. Following his conversion, he was ordained a Catholic priest and later elevated to the College of Cardinals. His life and witness bridged faith, reason, and conscience in a manner that continues to inspire the Church today.
Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2019. More recently, on November 1, 2025, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed him both a Doctor of the Church and co-Patron of the Church’s educational mission, alongside St. Thomas Aquinas, highlighting his enduring influence on Catholic education and theology.
The decree explains that the new memorial will be incorporated into all official liturgical calendars and books used for the celebration of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The prescribed liturgical texts attached to the decree are to be translated and approved by individual Conferences of Bishops and subsequently confirmed by the Dicastery before publication.
Although made public on February 3, the decree was formally signed earlier, on November 9, 2025, by Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, and Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, its Secretary. The signing coincided with the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the cathedral church of the Bishop of Rome.
The decree presents Newman as a powerful witness to the guiding action of divine grace in human life. Citing his well-known spiritual reflections, it recalls how “the kindly light of God’s grace” led him to find peace within the Catholic Church and gave him the conviction to affirm that God had created him for a specific mission within the divine plan.
Throughout his life, Cardinal Newman combined pastoral charity with rigorous intellectual engagement. He served the poor, preached tirelessly, taught generations of students, and pursued theological and philosophical inquiry with depth and humility. The Dicastery describes him as “a radiant light for the Church on pilgrimage through history.”
His legacy includes major contributions to theology and ecclesiology, as well as enduring poetic and devotional works that continue to nourish the spiritual life of the faithful. The decree underscores that Newman’s lifelong quest to move “out of shadows and images into the fullness of truth” stands as a compelling model for all disciples of the Risen Christ.
With his inscription into the General Roman Calendar, the universal Church is now invited to more fully celebrate the life, thought, and holiness of St. John Henry Newman, whose witness remains especially relevant in an age seeking harmony between faith, reason, and conscience.