New saint would’ve opposed Brexit – prominent priest

Michael
 Kelly

 in Rome

St John Henry Newman – who was canonised at the weekend – would have opposed Britain leaving the European Union, the man charged with promoting his sainthood cause has said.

Speaking in Rome on the eve of the canonisation, Fr Ignatius Harrison insisted that Newman “would have been a Remainer”.

According to Fr Harrison, “He [Newman] would say: ‘Why would England want to cut itself off, spiritually speaking, from Christian Europe, from Christian, Western civilisation?’

“I think he would opt for anything that would contribute to a closer spiritual unity between different countries and different nationalities,” Fr Harrison said.

Contention

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin appeared to agree on the new saint’s anti-Brexit credentials. After a lecture at the Pontifical Irish College last week on Newman, Dr Martin was asked about Fr Harrison’s contention by journalist Austen Ivereigh.

According to Mr Ivereigh, “when I put that quote to Archbishop Martin after his lecture on Newman’s ultimately failed attempt at creating a Catholic university in Dublin, the audience burst into laughter at the idea that England’s first saint in 300 years had a view on Brexit.

“But the archbishop agreed with Fr Harrison,” Mr Ivereigh said.

Culture

Dr Martin told the audience at the Irish College event that “the idea of a university as a place of universal learning can only come from a person who has a broad understanding of relationships and culture and of our common history”.

Ireland was represented at the canonisation ceremony in St Peter’s Square by Minister for Education Joe McHugh and ambassador to the holy See Derek Hannon. Fr Bill Dailey CSC – who currently ministers at Newman’s University Church in Dublin city centre – led a large delegation of Irish pilgrims from the Notre Dame Newman Centre for Faith and Reason while many other Irish pilgrims made the journey individually to honour the man who founded University College Dublin (UCD).