Cardinal Newman's Same-Sex Resting Place Upsets Catholic Saint Makers

The famous Catholic Cardinal, John Henry Newman, who died in 1890 was a man of deep passion and conviction. The celebrated theologian and historian is viewed by many Catholics as one the greatest thinkers from the English-speaking world.

Despite the hidebound traditions of his day, Newman maintained a relationship of great intimacy with an Anglican clergyman, Father Ambrose St John. The relationship was so close, it has been likened to the relationship between "husband and wife."

When Ambrose St John died in 1875, Newman was deeply stricken. He said: "I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband's or a wife's, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or any one's sorrow greater, than mine."

Such was the bond between the two men, Newman made clear that on his own death, he 'wished lie for eternity' beside the man he loved.

The Catholic Church has ordered the disinterment of Newman's body as the first step toward beatification.

The whole business of sainthood is a controversial. Some questionable characters, Padre Pio to name one, have been elevated to sainthood. It is part of the smoke-and-mirrors circus that helps the Catholic Church maintain its grip over the credulous.

In deciding to move Newman's body, the Church is violating Newman's publicly stated wish to be buried next to St John "for eternity."

Gay activist, Peter Tatchell, told the Independent newspaper: "The Vatican's decision to move Cardinal Newman's body from its resting place is an act of grave robbery and religious desecration."

The Church Times' poll on the matter found that 80% of respondents are opposed to the removal of Newman's body.

In the Independent article that quotes Tatchell, the views of conservative Cardinal, Cormac-Murphy O'Connor are also mentioned. O'Connor views the disinterment as "part of the process to the journey toward canonisation." He is also adamant that the relationship between Newman and St John was "totally celibate."

O'Connor has never made any claim to be all-knowing or even psychic. There is no possible way he can be certain the relationship was celibate. It is certainly known that Newman had a circle of homosexual friends. Even if the relationship with St John was purely Platonic, the attraction between the two men was rooted in an orientation that was homosexual - to believe otherwise is to be naive in the extreme.

Tatchell's contention that the decision to remove Newman from his resting place is "homophobic" has a great deal of merit. The Church has exhibited an increasing intolerance for homosexuality. The Pope himself is on record stating that homosexuality is a "disordered sexual inclination which is essentially self-indulgent." He has repeatedly condemned gay marriage and has taken a hardline position on homosexual candidates for the seminary, stating that any who exhibit deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should be barred.

So although there may be precedents with respect to disinterment-prior-to-canonisation, there is little doubt that the decision in Cardinal Newman's case has at least something to do with the proximity of one with whom he shared a same-sex bond - not exactly an image in sync with Catholic views of sainthood. For O'Connor to try and pretend otherwise and suggest it is simply a matter of Church procedure, is more than a little rich.

Cardinal Newman and Ambrose St John have a joint memorial stone inscribed with the Latin saying: Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem (out of shadows and the phantasms into the truth). Breaking up the final resting place of these two men who shared such a deep bond during their lifetimes is really a type of sacrilege.