Blessed John Henry Newman

I don't mean to keep harping on the Anglicans, but I've found another Catholic who is (strangely) celebrated by Anglicans: John Henry Newman, who was beatified today, September 19th, in Birmingham, England.  I attended my first Mass, learned about Catholicism, was Confirmed, and had my first Confession and first Communion at a St. John's Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois, so Cardinal Newman is a figure of special importance to me (and to countless other university students who have benefited from the many Newman Centers around the world).

Newman was an Anglican priest at Oxford.  He was involved with the Oxford Movement, which sought to make Anglicanism more traditional (basically, more Catholic).  Eventually, he decided that wasn't enough, and joined the Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict XVI personally beatified Cardinal Newman today, which was interesting, because Benedict usually has a policy that popes should only canonize, not beatify.  Also interesting was his decision to put Newman's feast day on October 9 (the date of his conversion to Catholicism), instead of August 11 (the date of his death).  Feast days are ordinarily celebrated on the day of the individual's death and entry into heaven, and August 11 is when the Church of England celebrates Newman's feast day.  People more knowledgeable than I tell us that we should not consider this move by the pope to have any  ecumenical significance.

If I had to guess, I would say that the Holy Father didn't want to make us wait until next August to celebrate Newman's feast day, so he put it in October, and we only have to wait a couple of weeks.

I would also say that the willingness of Anglicans to endorse people who disagree with them is rather odd.