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How a Local Man Helped Make John Henry Newman a Doctor of the Church — Dr. Bud Marr
Episode Summary
Dr. Bud Marr, former director of the National Institute for Newman Studies, joins Joe Stopulos to explore the life, conversion, and writings of Saint John Henry Newman, the Church’s newest Doctor of the Church. Bud shares how Newman’s words led him from an anti-Catholic background into the Catholic Church, and why Newman’s conversion was a “white martyrdom” that cost him his career, friendships, and reputation. You’ll also hear where to start reading Newman, what it was like to be in Rome for both his 2019 canonization and his 2025 Doctor of the Church declaration, and why Pope Leo named him co-patron of Catholic education.
Episode Notes
Have you ever wanted to hear from someone who helped get a saint named Doctor of the Church? Dr. Bud Marr was there in Rome for both of Newman’s big moments, and in this episode he and Joe dig into why this 19th-century English convert matters so much for Catholic men today.
In this episode:
- Bud’s road to Newman. In 2006, while studying at Duke Divinity School and drifting toward Anglicanism, Bud found Newman through an essay by Rusty Reno, now editor of First Things. Two lines changed everything: “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant” and “Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.”
- Who was John Henry Newman? He lived from 1801 to 1890, was a famous Anglican minister and Oxford fellow, and became Catholic at about age 45. It’s also why your college Catholic center is likely called the Newman Center.
- Red vs. white martyrdom. Newman’s conversion cost him his career, his friends, and his standing in English society. To be English was to be Anglican.
- The development of doctrine. In An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Newman explains how Church teaching grows organically without changing its substance, an idea that later informed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and Vatican II.
- Newman’s mottos for life: Cor ad cor loquitur (“Heart speaks to heart”) and “Holiness before peace.”
- Where to start reading Newman: Don’t start with the Grammar of Assent. Begin with his sermons, especially the eight volumes of Parochial and Plain Sermons, all free online. Next, try A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, Newman’s balanced take on conscience and papal authority after Vatican I.
- Behind the scenes of the Doctor of the Church cause. As director of the National Institute for Newman Studies in Pittsburgh (hired in 2017), Bud worked with the Brompton Oratory in London. The Institute digitized Newman’s huge body of writing (8 volumes of sermons, 32 volumes of letters, and more) and gathered 20 scholars to write the positio sent to the Vatican.
- Rome, twice. Bud was there for Newman’s canonization under Pope Francis in October 2019 and for his declaration as Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo on All Saints Day 2025. At the second ceremony, Newman was named co-patron of Catholic education with Saint Thomas Aquinas.
- Joe’s rosary challenge update. After the rosary episode with Keith Nester, Joe’s one-week daily rosary challenge has grown to nearly four weeks. If you haven’t started yet, start now.
Resources mentioned:
- Read Newman’s sermons free online at Newman Reader: https://www.newmanreader.org/
- National Institute for Newman Studies: https://www.newmanstudies.org/
- Seeking God with Saint John Henry Newman by Ryan J. Marr, published by Our Sunday Visitor. It’s written for a general audience.
- To Be Perfect Is to Have Changed Often by Ryan J. Marr, Bud’s dissertation on how Newman’s understanding of the Church developed.
- Bishop Robert Barron’s Pivotal Players series features Newman.
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