Sunday, July 20, 2008

Vatican orders Cardinal Newman to be parted from priest friend in shared grave

The final request of Britain's most famous Roman Catholic convert, Cardinal Newman, is to be over-riden as the Vatican prepares to make him a saint.

It was Cardinal Newman's dying wish that he be buried with his closest friend in the grounds of the house they had shared as priests.

But now, nearly 120 years after his death, Britain's most famous convert to Roman Catholicism is to be reinterred in a sarcophagus in preparation for his becoming a saint, leaving the remains of his friend behind.

The decision to separate the remains of John Henry Newman and Ambrose St John has upset figures in the Church and led some to question whether it is embarrassed about their relationship.

They are buried in a grave in a secluded cemetery on the outskirts of Birmingham. But Newman is being moved to the Birmingham Oratory in preparation for his beatification.

Elena Curti, deputy editor of The Tablet – a respected Catholic journal – expressed regret that the cardinal's final request was not being observed.

"It's clearly documented that he wanted to be buried with his close friend and it's a pity that his dying wish is not being respected," she said.

"I'd have thought Ambrose St John could be disinterred and placed with Newman."

The cardinal repeated on three occasions his desire to be buried with his friend, including shortly before his death in 1890.

"I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Fr Ambrose St John's grave - and I give this as my last, my imperative will," he wrote, later adding: "This I confirm and insist on."

Newman wrote after the death of St John in 1875: "I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband's or a wife's, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or anyone's sorrow greater, than mine."

Newman is set to become the first English saint for 40 years. He is already a Venerable and later this year, Pope Benedict XVI is expected to declare him "Blessed" - the next stage on the path to sainthood. One miracle has already been attributed to the late cardinal. He will need a second to become a saint.

Martin Prendergast, a homosexual campaigner in the Catholic Church, claimed the Cardinal's relationship had caused misgivings in the Vatican and slowed his path to beatification. "I don't think they can just pretend the relationship didn't exist," he said.

"We shouldn't be afraid of acknowledging that he had his trials and torments yet was able to deal with these in a positive manner, without compromising his commitment to celibacy."

Fr Ian Ker, a Newman expert, said the request to be buried with another man probably wouldn't be allowed by the Church today.

"The concept of friendship has died. No one in those days would have suspected anything," he said.

Newman believed from the age of 15 that it was the will of God that he be celibate, and taught that it was "a high state of life, to which the multitude of men cannot aspire".

Peter Jennings, press secretary for the Oratory, stressed that the order had come from the Vatican.

"There are some people who don't want his body moved at all, but it's a specific instruction from the Congregation for Saints."
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