Newman, John Henry

(born Feb. 21, 1801, London, Eng.—died Aug. 11, 1890, Birmingham, Warwick) English churchman and man of letters.

He attended the University of Oxford, where in 1833 he became the leader of the Oxford Movement, which stressed the Catholic elements in the English religious tradition and sought to reform the Church of England. He was received into the Roman Catholic church in 1845, but he came under suspicion among the more rigorous clergy because of his quasi-liberal spirit. A challenge from Charles Kingsley prompted him to write an eloquent exposition of his spiritual history, the widely admired Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864). The work assured his place in the church, and in 1879 he became a cardinal-deacon. He also wrote theological works, religious poetry, and several hymns, including “Lead, Kindly Light.”