On November 1, Pope Leo XIV declared St. John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church during the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the World of Education. In this video, Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, vicar for clergy, reflects on the significance of this rare honor and explains what it means for Catholic education today.

With this proclamation, St. John Henry Newman becomes only the 38th person to be named a Doctor of the Church, a title given to saints whose writings and teachings offer outstanding guidance for the universal Church.

Pope Leo also named Newman the co-patron of Catholic education, alongside St. Thomas Aquinas, reaffirming the Church’s mission to form the whole person – mind, heart, and conscience, through faith and reason.

The announcement was accompanied by Pope Leo’s new Apostolic Letter on education, Drawing New Maps of Hope, which calls educators to renew Catholic education for the challenges of today’s world.