Why is Newman so important? Why are Newman Centers named after him, even before he was considered for sainthood? In the mid―to late―nineteenth century, Catholics began attending secular, rather than Catholic universities in larger numbers. In many of these institutions they encountered environments hostile to Catholicism. In an attempt to balance their intellectual lives with their faith lives, students began informally gathering with local clergy and religious and Catholic professors. In 1892 at the University of Pennsylvania, one such group formed a club named after John Henry Newman, a recently deceased Cardinal of the church who had written essays on the idea of a University and on the Christian conscience.
Here is Pope Benedict XVI on Newman: It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free. Cardinal Newman realised this, and he left us an outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth by following that “kindly light” wherever it led him, even at considerable personal cost. Great writers and communicators of his stature and integrity are needed in the Church today, and it is my hope that devotion to him will inspire many to follow in his footsteps. (Ad Limina Visit of Bishops of England and Wales, Feb 1, 2010)
