The body of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who died in 1890, is to be exhumed and placed in a sarcophagus at his memorial church, officials confirmed yesterday. Campaigners for the beatification of the cardinal said his remains would be re-interred at the Oratory Church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, at a public ceremony in the autumn.
The announcement, made by the provost of the Birmingham Oratory, Fr Paul Chavasse, follows a request from the Vatican that the cardinal's body be moved as part of the process of beatification.
Cardinal Newman was buried in August 1890 in a small cemetery in Rednal, near Birmingham, and it is hoped that his new resting place will enable more people to pay their respects to his memory.
Fr Chavasse added: "It should be noted that, at the specific request of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the exhumation will be an entirely private event but that the re-interment in our church will be a public ceremony."
It is hoped that Pope Benedict XVI will issue a decree declaring Cardinal Newman as "Blessed" in December.
In 1854 the cardinal, a Catholic convert, came to Dublin as rector of the Catholic University, now University College Dublin.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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