"And with the morn those angel faces smile / Which I have loved long since and lost awhile"
We saw today St John Henry Newman raised to the heights of Doctor of the Church! The Beda seminarians were able to serve the Mass with the Holy Father.
The Holy Father quoted Newman several times and made him co-patron of education with St Thomas Aquinas.
After the Mass the Rector attended a reception at Collegio Urbana (which claims Newman as an alumnus - though the Beda was created just a few years after to provide a bespoke formation for future Newmans - so we claim him as an indirect founder). The college boasts the most spectacular views of St Peter’s. Cardinals, Bishops, Oratorians, members of movements connected with Newman, authors and scholars met to celebrate this happy day.