Bishop Barron on St. John Henry Newman: Beyond the Left and the Right

About this sermon

As I read the myriad commentaries on St. John Henry Newman before his canonization, I’m particularly struck by how often he is co-opted by the various political parties active in the Church today—and how this co-opting both distorts Newman and actually makes him less interesting and relevant for our time. I should like to show this by drawing attention to two major themes in Newman’s writing—namely, the development of doctrine and the primacy of conscience.