St John Henry Newman With just a month to go, excitement is building ahead of the canonisation of Dublin’s adopted saint Cardinal Newman.
Fr Bill Dailey CSC from the University of Notre Dame Newman Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin, who will lead a pilgrimage in association with The Irish Catholic – said he is “thrilled” that there has been such a positive response to the trip to Rome.
All places on the pilgrimage were booked within a few short weeks.
“We’re very excited,” Fr Dailey told The Irish Catholic this week. “I’ve spoken with a number of the pilgrims and many of them have never been to Rome before, so it’s a chance for them to experience the universal Church in the eternal city as Cardinal Newman did”.
Fr Dailey said that he was particularly pleased that Prof. Teresa Iglesias, Founding Director of the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies, will join the trip.
“Prof. Iglesias told me that what Newman taught her above all is to trust in God’s providence and do what is placed before one.
“Cardinal Newman had plans for his life after he entered the Church and became ordained. Coming to Ireland was not part of his plan, but the Holy See encouraged this. And even though what he wanted to do here didn’t unfold, we have the beautiful University Church in Dublin and UCD which remains very much part of the fabric of Irish life,” Fr Dailey said.
Cardinal Newman will be canonised by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sunday October 13. The Irish Catholic will have full coverage of the event.