Pope Benedict XVI has announced the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the most important convert from the Church of England to Roman Catholicism.

The move takes Newman, who founded the Oxford Movement in the Church of England before going over to Rome in 1845, a step closer to becoming England’s first non-martyr saint since the Reformation.

The Pope opened the way for the beatification in 2001 when he recognised claims that Jack Sullivan, a Catholic deacon in Boston in the US, had been miraculously healed of a “serious debility of the spine” at the intercession of Newman, who died in 1890.

In 2000 Mr Sullivan, who is married with three children, prayed for the Cardinal’s help after being warned by his doctor that his back problem could result in paralysis. Next morning, he awoke to find that his pain had gone and that he was able to walk properly for the first time in months.

Times Archive 1890 Death of Cardinal Newman

A great man has passed away; great link with the past has been broken

Related Links

• A man for all seasons

• Pope beatifies Victorian vicar who converted

• In depth: how to become a saint

Now another miraculous cure attributed to Newman is said to have been reported. If it is accepted by the Holy See, the Cardinal could then be canonised. He would become the first British saint since St John Ogilvie, a Scottish martyr, canonised in 1976. The last English saints, 40 martyrs of the Reformation, were canonised in 1970.

The Times has learnt that the rite of beatification is likely to take place next spring, in Birmingham, Westminster or Rome. After the ceremony, the Cardinal would become known as the Blessed John Henry Newman.

Pope Benedict has been a student of the writings of Newman since he was a young seminarian. He has personally followed the case since 1991, when Pope John Paul II granted the Cardinal the title Venerable in recognition of his virtuous life.

A papal visit could follow the beatification ceremony in September next year, possibly including a lecture in Oxford, where Newman wrote so much of his own theology.

After yesterday’s decree by the Pope approving the miraculous healing of Mr Sullivan, Father Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Oratory in Birmingham, which was founded by the Cardinal, said: “The Holy Father’s decision is one of great significance for the whole Church. I pray that Newman, by the example of his life and teaching, will be received as an authentic guide for Catholics everywhere.”

To become a saint, the intercession of a soul in Heaven must be judged responsible for a miracle on Earth. A panel of doctors examines claims of miraculous healing and must rule that it is scientifically inexplicable, while theologians look at whether it occurred as the result of the intercession of the person concerned.

If they judge the case positively, it is then examined by the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Only the Pope can declare a healing to be a true miracle and a second miracle has to be recognised for canonisation.