The beatification of the Church of England's most significant convert to Roman Catholicism is 'imminent', according to reports in Rome today.

The move would pave the way for Cardinal John Henry Newman to be made a saint. He would then become the first non-martyr saint in England since the Reformation.

Cardinal Newman, the 19th century Anglican churchman who founded the high church Oxford Movement before his reception into the Catholic Church, was Britain's most high-profile convert until the reception of former prime minister Tony Blair shortly before Christmas.

In an interview with L'Osservatore Romano, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, said Cardinal Newman was among several important personalities to be beatified soon.

Describing him as "a man of thought, an emblematic figure of a conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism," the Cardinal said: "Personally, I hope that such a beatification may occur truly within a short time because it could be very important at this moment for the path of ecumenism."

Pope Benedict XVI has been interested in Cardinal Newman since first reading him in 1946, at the age of 18.

The Pope has also been watching closely the tribulations of the Anglican Communion as it tears itself apart over homosexuality. Several Anglican bishops from North America have already or are in the process of seeking reception into the Catholic Church.

Even if he were not officially nominated as such, the beatification and then canonisation of Cardinal Newman at this particular time would make him the de-facto patron saint of converts, giving a spiritual boost to traditionalists in both churches struggling against the tides of secularisation and liberalism. Newman converted in 1845.

Peter Jennings, spokesman for the Newman Cause, based at the Birmingham Oratory which Newman founded, said: "We look forward to the day when Cardinal Newman, the best-known English churchman of the 19th century, is beatified. At present the Congregation for Saints in Rome is meticulously investigating the 'miraculous' healing during 2001 of Deacon Jack Sullivan from the Archdiocese of Boston, USA. We encourage everyone to redouble their prayers for a successful outcome."

Mr Sullivan, 68, from Marshfield, a county court clerk, had a severe spinal disorder but was restored to full mobility after prayers to Cardinal Newman on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, in 2001.

No irrefutable evidence of any miraculous cures attributable to Newman's intercessions have been found so far in Britain. When Tony Blair met the Pope in Rome before leaving office, he presented him with a set of antique paintings of Newman, a gesture that was interpreted as representing his own intentions to journey in that direction.

Giving him the artworks, Mr Blair told Benedict: "I believe you are very familiar with him and he is on the journey to sainthood."

The Pope replied that the process was taking some time. He said "Miracles are hard to come by in Britain."

Cardinal Saraiva Martins also revealed that the parents of St Therese of Lisieux, Louis Martin and Azelia Guérin are to be beatified this year.

St Therese, one of the Church's most popular saints, is also a Doctor of the Church.

Promoters of the Newman Cause hope that he also might become a Doctor of the Church, making him the first Englishman to be given this honour since the 8th century's Venerable Bede. Bede was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1899 by Pope Leo XIII, who 20 years earlier raised Newman to Cardinal.