POPE LEO XIV will proclaim St. John Henry Newman as co-patron of Catholic education, the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education announced on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Newman will be venerated as patron of Catholic schools, along with the Angelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas.
He will be officially proclaimed co-patron of Catholic education during the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the World of Education on Nov. 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, said Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça.
On the same day, the pope will also confer upon Newman the title “Doctor of the Church,” making him the 38th saint to receive this honor.
The proclamation will coincide with the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum educationis, the Vatican II document on Christian education, on Oct. 28.
“Newman is an extraordinary educator and a great inspiration for the philosophy of education,” de Mendonça said.
He said Gravissimum educationis is a “fundamental document with a strong impact on contemporary vision of education.”
The Church operates about 230,000 universities and schools in 171 countries, serving nearly 72 million students worldwide, according to the Vatican.
St. Thomas Aquinas, also a Doctor of the Church, was declared the patron saint of Catholic schools and education by Pope Leo XIII in 1880.
Aquinas is also venerated as the patron of students, teachers, and theologians, in recognition of his profound influence on the Church’s teachings and philosophy.
