The Cardinal Newman Society joyfully celebrates the Vatican’s announcement that our holy patron, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, will be named the universal Church’s Patron of Catholic Education on October 28 and Doctor of the Church on All Saints Day (November 1).

Praise be to God!  Deo gratias!

For more than three decades, The Cardinal Newman Society has championed and advanced St. John Henry Newman’s vision for faithful Catholic education.  We evaluate and recognize institutions in The Newman Guide that live out the world-celebrated model of education propounded by St. John Henry Newman—now exalted by the Church!

The Cardinal Newman Society now bears the name of both the Patron Saint of Catholic Education and a Doctor of the Church!

More than the name, however, The Cardinal Newman Society’s mission advances Newman’s model through The Newman Guide and our work to evaluate, assist, promote, and network faithful Newman Guide Recommended institutions.

God’s timing is wonderful!  Before the end of 2025, we will release new print and digital editions of The Newman Guide that, for the first time, recognize Catholic elementary and secondary schools and graduate programs as well as undergraduate colleges!

We urge all Catholics to advance the vision of St. John Henry Newman by supporting and praying for The Cardinal Newman Society and promoting The Newman Guide to lead Catholic families to faithful Catholic education that forms young people in faith, virtue, and wisdom.

St. John Henry Newman will be the 38^th Doctor of the Church, out of about 8,000 saints traditionally celebrated by the Catholic Church.  Newman’s holy name is now fixed in the company of Aquinas, Ambrose, Augustine, Bonaventure, Catherine, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, and Theresa of Avila.

Only two other Doctors are Moderns—Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1787) and Thérèse of Lisieux (d. 1897)—and Newman (d. 1890) speaks uniquely to the state of the Church and society today.

There is much about Newman that inspires many Catholics—his conversion, his insightful sermons, his reverent prayers, and his deep theology and philosophy—so that his lifetime devotion to education is often ignored. But all of Newman’s writings and his life were rooted in education, both formal education (at Oxford, Newman’s Catholic University of Ireland, and his Oratory School) and every cultivation of the mind and soul.

Newman said his life’s work was to fight “liberalism in religion”: the tendency to regard divine revelation and worship as unimportant and relevant only in the privacy of the home and church. His solution? Catholic education, teaching both faith and reason.

Newman’s idea of education has been greatly distorted by those who take only a portion of his arguments, attempting to argue for secular liberal education or Catholic centers at public universities.  Newman was clear: a secular education lacks the most important knowledge and is dangerous to its students.  The only complete education is Catholic.

The Cardinal Newman Society’s work of reforming Catholic education includes clear explanation of Newman’s vision for education—now all the more important, since that vision is now recommended to all the Faithful by the Church.  This includes challenging the falsehoods and distortions.

Patrick Reilly, President and Founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, will be in Rome for the Jubilee events with Catholic educators and the Nov. 1 Mass naming our patron Doctor of the Church. He is a noted speaker on St. John Henry Newman and his vision for Catholic education, and he is available for media interviews and speaking engagements.  Contact Kevin Murphy, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, at kmurphy@cardinalnewmansociety.org or call 816.863.8880.

St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Patron Saint of Catholic Education and Doctor of the Church, ora pro nobis!

LINK TO PRESS RELEASE

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI declared an “educational emergency,” noting that we have failed “to form sound people who can cooperate with others and give their own lives meaning.” That same year, The Cardinal Newman Society launched The Newman Guide to help Catholic families find faithful Catholic education fully dedicated to the mission of forming Christians to know and love God.

In 2025, Newman Guide Recommended colleges are providing what Pope Benedict XVI asked for—a Catholic formation that helps students seek God’s will for their lives. Newman Guide education helps students grow in faith, virtue, and wisdom, and prepares them to live holy and truly fulfilling lives.

In contrast, secular colleges have largely embraced atheism, relativism, and gender ideology. They speak of education as merely job preparation—not the Christian formation of the whole person. This impoverished view contributes to graduates losing their faith and fails to impart a Christian worldview to guide their future.

At the same time, the college landscape is coming under greater scrutiny. A “demographic cliff” hit colleges this fall, which refers to a drop in the number of traditional college-aged students in our country, due to fewer marriages and plummeting birthrates. Estimates say that 1 – 1.5 million students have opted out of college post-pandemic, and it’s unclear whether that number will ever rebound. In addition, higher tuition prices and student debt are rising concerns.

In these uncertain times, especially in light of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it’s never been more important to educate and form young people in faith, intelligence, and virtue. In a culture increasingly hostile to Christian values, young Catholics need to know what they believe—and why they believe it.

Despite these challenges, Newman Guide Recommended colleges are flourishing! As Pope Benedict XVI said, “when the foundations are shaken and essential certainties are lacking… the request for an education which is truly such is in fact increasing.”

Here are some highlights of undergraduate enrollment at Newman Guide Recommended colleges for the 2025-26 academic year:

• Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Fla., has a record undergraduate enrollment of 1,342 and a record incoming freshman class.
• Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., has grown its undergraduate enrollment to 1,607 students. This year’s freshman class is their second-largest ever.
• Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., has 2,250 undergraduate students, an increase of 22 percent over the last ten years.
• The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., has 3,296 undergraduate students. The University has increased undergraduate enrollment by 11 percent in the last five years.
• Catholic International University (online) has a record undergraduate enrollment of 202 and a record incoming class. The University has grown 70 percent over the last ten years.
• Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., has reached its student body capacity size with 554 undergraduates. The College has grown 18 percent over the last ten years.
• Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, has a record undergraduate enrollment of 3,079 and a record incoming freshman class.
• Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and online, has its third consecutive year of a record undergraduate enrollment with 288 students.
• John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, Calif., has 284 undergraduate students, and has grown 66 percent over the last ten years.
• Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., and Northfield, Mass., has reached capacity on the California campus with 369 undergraduate students. The Massachusetts campus has 196 undergraduate students and plans to reach 350 in the next ten years.
• The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., had a record number of applications and has 92 undergraduate students, with a 92 percent retention rate of students returning for their second year.
• University of Dallas in Irving, Tex., has a stable undergraduate enrollment of 1,453 students, and has increased its retention rate of students returning for their second year to 84 percent.
• University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., has a record undergraduate enrollment of 2,430 and a record incoming freshman class.
• University of St. Thomas in Houston, Tex., has a record undergraduate enrollment of 3,465 and has grown 92 percent over the last 10 years.
• Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, has 1,508 undergraduate students and has its largest freshman class since 2019.
• Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo., has held steady in undergraduate enrollment over the last ten years, with 156 students this year.

Provisionally Recommended in The Newman Guide:

• The Catholic Institute of Technology in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, has grown to 25 undergraduate students.
• The College of St. Joseph the Worker in Steubenville, Ohio, has a record undergraduate enrollment of 61 students in its second year in operation and has a record incoming freshman class.
• The Collegium Sanctorum Angelorum, opened its new location in Kansas City, Mo., with 11 students.
• Rosary College in Greenville, S.C., and online, has grown to 17 undergraduate students.