The Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, 1801-1890, the best-known English churchman of the 19th century, may be beatified later this year according to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

Last month Cardinal José Saraiva Martins said that he hoped that the beatification of Cardinal Newman, founder of the English Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri, would happen this year.

Fr Paul Chavasse, the Provost of the Birmingham Oratory in Edgbaston, where Newman spent much of his Catholic life, said: “We are much encouraged that Cardinal Martins has indicated that the beatification of our founder Cardinal Newman might take place later this year.”

Fr Chavasse, who is also Postulator of the Newman Cause, continued: “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.

"The beatification of this great English cardinal will hold him up to the Church world-wide as a sure guide of orthodoxy, at a time when the Catholic faith is under increasing attack in our secular society,” he added.

Mr Sullivan, 69, a Magistrate from Marshfield, Massachusetts, had a severe spinal disorder but was restored to full mobility after prayer to Cardinal Newman on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15 2001.

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

At the end of the introduction to my book Benedict XVI And Cardinal Newman I wrote: “Will it be Benedict XVI, the first Pope of the twenty-first century, who will canonise John Henry Newman, and declare him a Doctor of the Church? Except for the martyrs, Newman would be the first English saint canonised since the Reformation.”

The only Englishman to be declared a Doctor of the Church is the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk, who died in 735 - an honour bestowed by Pope Leo XIII in 1899.

St Bede the Venerable is buried in Durham Cathedral, more than 175 miles to the north east of the Oratory House at Rednal, on the outskirts of Birmingham, where Cardinal Newman was buried on August 19, 1890 following his Funeral Mass in Edgbaston.

Who was Newman?

John Henry Newman was born at 80 Old Broad Street in the City of London on February 21, 1801. The site is now marked by a blue plaque on what was the visitors’ entrance to the London Stock Exchange. He was the eldest of six children born to John Newman and Jemima Fourdrinier, who had been married on September 24 1799 in St Mary’s church in Lambeth.

John Henry was baptised on April 9, 1801, in the church of St Benet Fink, no longer in existence. His bothers and sisters to whom he became close were Charles, Harriett, Francis, Jemima and Mary. Their father was a partner in a small banking firm. Their mother was the daughter of a paper manufacturer of Huguenot ancestry.

The Newman family moved to 17 Southampton Street (now Southampton Place) in Bloomsbury in 1803 and also owned a country house at Ham where young John Henry lived for the first few years of his life. Mr and Mrs Newman were members of the Church of England. John Henry was brought up with a love for the Bible, taught by his mother.

Meanwhile, the anniversary of Cardinal Newman’s birthday is marked each year at his Birmingham Oratory in Edgbaston by a Musical Oratory – a service of music, preaching and prayer. It will be held this week, on Thursday February 21 at 7.30pm.

The service based around theme “Newman On Lent” will be led by Fr Gregory Winterton, the former Provost and Vice Chairman of the Friends of Cardinal Newman and Dr Francis Jackson, Organist Emeritus of York Minister, will play some organ music. Towards the end of the service Fr Winterton will lead the congregation in the special prayer for the beatification and canonisation of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman. All are welcome.

The Musical Oratory dates back to the 16th century, the time of St Philip Neri (1515-1595) and is a combination of prayers, music (choral or instrumental) and short addresses or Fervorini as they are known in Italy. These Fervorini were much used by St Philip Neri who founded the Congregation of the Oratory in Rome during 1575.

Peter Jennings, is a Catholic journalist, writer and broadcaster. He has worked with the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory on the Cause for the beatification and canonisation of Cardinal Newman since 1975. His book Benedict XVI And Cardinal Newman (Family Publications, Oxford) was launched at the English College in Rome during October 2005. He will write regularly for Times Online on the moves in Rome to beatify Cardinal Newman.