On Thursday this week Pope Leo XIV approved the decision to declare St. John Henry Newman the 38th doctor of the universal Church. The decision to confer the title upon the 19th-century English saint — a former Anglican priest who converted to Catholicism and later became a cardinal — was confirmed during the pope’s morning meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
In the Church’s 2,000-year history, only 37 other saints have been given the title of doctor. The title is granted in recognition of an already canonized saint’s significant contribution to advancing the Church’s knowledge of doctrine, theology, or spirituality. The Vatican has not yet confirmed the date of Newman’s formal proclamation as a doctor of the Church.
Further details of the announcement, including a brief biography of the saint, can be found here at the Catholic News Agency website.