Cardinal John Henry Newman, the founder of University College Dublin (UCD) who controversially converted to Catholicism in the 19th century after serving as an Anglican vicar, will be canonised this October.
The Vatican announced yesterday that Newman, who was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, will be made a saint on October 13th. He becomes the first English person in 50 years to be canonised.
Newman, born in London in 1801, founded the Catholic University of Ireland – later known as UCD – in 1854, acting as its first rector until 1858. It was originally located at St Stephen’s Green.
The Vatican announced Newman’s canonisation after successfully attributing a necessary second miracle to him. Newman is said to have saved a Boston deacon from paralysis, and saved a pregnant woman in the US from unstoppable internal bleeding.
In a press statement, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Sally Axworthy, said: “Cardinal Newman had a major impact on Catholic theology and on education worldwide, making him a truly global Briton.”
“He brought his experience from the Anglican Church to his work as a Catholic, bridging the two traditions”, she said.
Trinity, officially known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592.
Catholics were not admitted to Trinity for more than 200 years after its establishment, with professorships, fellowships and scholarships reserved for Protestants for a further 80 years.
The Catholic Church forbade its members from attending Trinity until 1970.
