1801-1890. English Roman Catholic theologian.
While still an Anglican, he wrote a series of
Tracts for the Times, which gave their name
to the Tractarian Movement (subsequently
called the Oxford Movement) for the revival
of Catholicism. He became a Catholic 1845 and
was made a cardinal 1879. In 1864 his
autobiography, Apologia pro vita sua, was
published. Newman, born in London, was
ordained in the Church of England 1824, and
in 1827 became vicar of St Mary's, Oxford.
There he was influenced by the historian R H
Froude and the Anglican priest Keble, and in
1833 published the first of the Tracts for
the Times. They culminated in Tract 90 1841
which found the Thirty-Nine Articles of the
Anglican church compatible with Roman
Catholicism, and Newman was received into the
Roman Catholic Church in 1845. He was rector
of Dublin University 1854-58 and published
his lectures on education as The Idea of a
University 1873. His poem The Dream of
Gerontius appeared in 1866, and The Grammar
of Assent, an analysis of the nature of
belief, in 1870. He wrote the hymn `Lead,
kindly light' 1833.