Cardinal Newman’s love

The rumpus caused by the proposed transfer of Cardinal Newman’s remains to Birmingham Oratory in England deserves comment.

Peter Tatchell, strident though he is, is correct when he laments the ignoring of Cardinal Newman’s explicit wishes. Mr Tatchell further believes that the cardinal was gay — emotionally, at least. That would not diminish his greatness, neither is it a slur on his character.

When Fr Ambrose St John died, Cardinal Newman spent the entire night in vigil next to his friend’s body. He later wrote: “I have ever thought no bereavement was equal to that of a husband or a wife’s, but I feel it difficult to believe that any can be greater, or any one’s sorrow greater than mine”. Moving words indeed, echoing David’s lament for Jonathan.

Fr Ian Ker’s objection to the cardinal’s possibly being gay is not convincing (“Row over suggestions that Cardinal Newman was gay”, September 17-23). If Cardinal Newman had wanted to marry, he could have done so while an Anglican priest or a Catholic layman.

I believe Cardinal Newman loved Fr Ambrose St John deeply, and that this love was reciprocated. Such love is normal, and at the heart of the Gospel. God has allowed the remains of the two men to dissolve, and these loving friends are now forever united.

Michael Carstens,  Pietermaritzburg

See also editorial Unfriendly Suspicions