ST JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

I was privileged to be present both when Pope Benedict beatified John Henry in Birmingham and at the canonisation in Rome in 2019. In my life as a former Anglican cleric making the journey into the Church I have been profoundly touched by this amazing saint. I was thinking about Carmelite connections in this regard and of course St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross OCD (Edith Stein) translated some of his writings into German. John Henry was received into the Church in 1845 just outside Oxford and it was just two years later that the talented Jewish pianist and composer Hermann Cohen, friend of Franz Liszt, took the same step in Paris. Later, as a Carmelite priest, Fr Hermann was to be instrumental in establishing a Discalced presence in London.