Canonisation of John Henry Newman

[3] In 1991, Newman was proclaimed Venerable by Pope John Paul II after an examination of his life and work by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On 3 July 2009, Pope Benedict XVI recognised the healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan in 2001 as a miracle, resulting from the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God, John Henry Newman.

[10] Pope Benedict said that Newman "tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to each one of us, a 'definite service', committed uniquely to every single person.

"[3] Although it had been originally announced that Newman would be beatified at an open air Mass at Coventry Airport,[11] the venue was later switched to Cofton Park in Longbridge.

In November 2018, the Vatican approved a second miracle, involving the unexplained healing of a pregnant American woman from a life-threatening diagnosis and investigated by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In 2008, the Vatican decided to enact plans to move Newman's remains from The Lickey Hills, near Rednal, Worcestershire where he was buried, to the Oratory in Birmingham city centre in anticipation of his being declared a saint.

The move required prior permission from the Ministry of Justice; in preparation the area was enclosed by steel fencing incorporating The Oratory country house, a mortuary chapel and a small graveyard which contained his shared grave (with Ambrose St. John).

[15] These artefacts, along with locks of hair, which had been sent to Sullivan before his inexplicable cure (and had always been in the possession of the Birmingham Oratory), were placed in a glass sided casket for a Vigil of Reception.

[16] The proposed movement of Newman's body angered some gay rights campaigners, who saw it as an attempt to deliberately separate him from Ambrose St John, with whom he was buried in accordance with his personal wishes.