Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent figures in British Catholicism, is to be made a saint after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him.
Newman, a theologian and scholar who was one of the highest profile Anglicans to convert to Catholicism during the Victorian era, will be Britain’s first saint since 1976.
Pope Benedict XVI beatified Newman during the papal visit to Britain in 2010 after ascribing a first miracle to the clergyman.
Pope Francis has now credited Newman with a second miracle, clearing the way for him to be declared a saint.
The purported miracle involved the recovery of a pregnant American from a life-threatening illness.
The Church claims the recovery had no scientific explanation and attributed it to Newman’s intercession.
“An expectant mother was suffering from unstoppable internal bleeding which threatened the life of her child in the womb,” the diocese of Westminster said on its website.
“She had long been a devotee of Blessed John Henry, and in prayer she directly and explicitly invoked Newman’s intercession to stop the bleeding. The miraculous healing was immediate, complete, and permanent.”
No date has yet been announced for a sainthood ceremony but it is expected to be in the autumn.
Born in London in 1801, Newman was ordained as a Church of England priest and founded the Oxford Movement, representing the High Church wing of Anglicism, before converting to Catholicism in 1845 and founding a religious community called the Birmingham Oratory.
He was named a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879 and died in 1890 at the age of 89. At his funeral, around 15,000 people lined the streets of Birmingham.
Renowned as a poet and philosopher, he wrote hymns and was regarded as one of the intellectual giants of his time.
The Vatican announcement was welcomed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic leader in England and Wales.
“Newman’s exploration of faith, depth of personal courage, intellectual clarity and cultural sensitivity make him a deeply admired follower of Christ.
"He brings together so many of the best of Catholic traditions shared well beyond the Catholic Church.
"For me the truly remarkable nature of this moment is that this is an English parish priest being declared a saint.”
The last Briton to be canonised, in 1976, was the Scottish Catholic martyr John Ogilvie, who was hanged in 1615.