St. John Henry Newman against compromise

Jacob Phillips, First Things

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Some look for uncompromising faith that offers a genuine alternative to contemporary society. Newman, by contrast, is often presented as the primary forerunner of the world-affirming and accommodating sentiments of Vatican II – the “invisible peritus.” In a speech given on the eve of Newman’s canonization in 2019, the then-Prince Charles praised Newman’s role in restoring the place of Catholics in British life, thus showing that the U.K. could be a “community of communities.” Newman’s achievement was to show the path toward a kind of multiculturalism. But is that portrait accurate?