For two decades (1859-1879), ultramontane Roman Catholics viewed Newman with suspicion and surreptitiously questioned his orthodoxy; such covert charges were practically impossible to refute. Vindication came only in Newman’s declining years, when Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) named him a cardinal. Such an honor was an irrefutable riposte to Newman’s critics. His elevation to the cardinalate unleashed a torrent of congratulations from religious communities and civic organizations, from personal friends as well as from the general public. This article revisits Newman’s cardinalatial years and samples some of the “Addresses” and messages of congratulation that he received along with his replies

Why did Newman decide to become an Oratorian? This article examines the life and vision of St. Philip Neri (1515-1595), the founder of the Oratory, in relation to the apostolic ministry that John Henry Newman and his fellow Oxford-converts hoped to exercise in the Roman Catholic Church. This article concludes with reflections about the Oratory’s role, present and future.

The publication of his Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864) brought Newman back into contact with many of his Anglican friends—two of whom gifted him with a violin. In his letter of appreciation, Newman mused: “Perhaps thought is music.” Such would seem to be the case with his poem, The Dream of Gerontius (1865), which was set to music by Sir Edward Elgar (1900). This essay explores the relationship between Newman’s Apologia and The Dream of Gerontius and then analyzes the latter’s structure and content and compares it with other Christian classics.

Newman’s theology is known for its personalism: Newman was concerned not only with a notional or intellectual appeal, but also with eliciting a real assent from his audience. This article locates the beginnings of that “personalist theology” in his pastoral ministry at St.Clement’s (Oxford) and his first theological treatise, The Miracles of Scripture.

What is the reason for the continued interest in Newman’s theology? This article’s reply that Newman was a contextual theologian is based on a consideration of three questions:Was Newman a theologian? What was the context of his theology? What are the reasons for Newman’s theological longevity?

The present article, which was originally the keynote presentation on August 12, 2004, at the annual conference of the Venerable John Henry Newman Association at Mundelein, Illinois, traces the stages of Newman’s view of the hierarchy from the time of his involvement in the Oxford Movement to his post-conciliar reflections about the teaching of the First Vatican Council.Newman’s theology of the hierarchy, which cannot be understood apart from the controversies which engaged him, is, from a present-day perspective, both “stimulating and problematic.”

This article, which was originally presented at the annual conference of the Venerable John Henry Newman Association in Mundelein, Illinois, in August 2004, portrays Newman as anticipating three aspects of postmodernism:the question of epistemological foundations, the role of theology in the academy, and a conversational model of truth.

Although Newman is often considered a philosopher and theologian, a litterateur and historian, this article shows that his interest in the public affairs of his day and his political views, which were under-girded by his religious convictions, are found in his letters and diaries, in his essays, and even in his sermons.

Although Newman felt that the conferral of the cardinalate lifted the cloud of suspicion forever, soon after his death his reputation came under another cloud: Modernism. This essay shows how Modernist concerns about the philosophical grounding of faith, Biblical interpretation, and the nature of dogmatic statements as presented by Pierre Batiffol and Marcel Hébert counter-pointed Newman’s idea of the development of doctrine.