JOHN Henry Newman, proclaimed co-patron of Catholic education by Pope Leo XIV, is a model for all people who are passionate for the truth, a UST theologian said.
Pope Leo declared Newman, a 19th century English cardinal, a Doctor of the Church on Nov. 1 at St. Peter’s Square.
Fr. Cecilio Vladimir Magboo, O.P., regent of studies of the Dominican Province of the Philippines, said the integration of holiness and wisdom of both St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education, and Newman, the new co-patron, should be emulated by Thomasians.
“To be educated and to be holy, they can be together. The higher that you learn, the more that you should become holy,” the Dominican priest said.
Magboo said Thomasians should learn from the two saints who were “passionate about the truth and sought it wherever it could be found,” a core tenet of the University as embodied by the motto, “Veritas in Caritate,” or truth in charity.
Magboo, who teaches at the Faculty of Sacred Theology, said the example of the two patrons of education should help students and professors combat relativism in truth, or the belief that there is no absolute truth and only personal interpretations of reality.
“For us in the Catholic institution, we know the truth is there. We know that the truth is Christ… Every search for truth is guided by what St. John Henry and St. Thomas would tell us — the faith that we have,” he said.
The proclamation of Newman, the 38th saint to be named Doctor of the Church, was made during the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the World of Education, coinciding with the Solemnity of All Saints.
Newman will also be venerated as patron of Catholic schools, along with St. Thomas Aquinas, the “Angelic Doctor.”
“Newman’s impressive spiritual and cultural stature will surely serve as an inspiration to new generations whose hearts thirst for the infinite, and who, through research and knowledge, are willing to undertake that journey,” Pope Leo said in his homily.
St. Thomas Aquinas was named Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1567.
He was declared the patron saint of Catholic schools and education by Pope Leo XIII in 1880. There are about 230,000 Catholic universities and schools in 171 countries.
St. John Henry Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2019. With reports from Vince Alfred M. Pillagara
