Preview: 1880: Cardinal Newman Attends the Trinity College "Gaudy"

When Pope Leo XIII named the Oratorian Father John Henry Newman a Cardinal Deacon of the Church in 1879, the recipient remarked that “The cloud is lifted from me forever.” Even after the Apologia pro Vita Sua had clarified his reasons for becoming a Catholic, he had felt the distrust of certain members of the hierarchy; there had been an uncommunicated "delation for heresy" to Rome after he wrote "On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine". Projects like an Oratory of Saint Peter Neri in Oxford to serve Catholics finally able to attend the colleges there without swearing an Oath to the 39 Articles of the Church of England had been thwarted because of his personal involvement. He was still "The Most Dangerous Man in England" as Monsignor George Talbot had written in 1867. 

Two years before in 1877, he'd been elected the first honorary fellow of Trinity College, his alma mater, and in 1880 he was invited to the Gaudy of that college. This 145th anniversary of Newman going back to Oxford again will be the next Son Rise Morning Show Anniversary on Monday, November 24--I'll be on at my usual time, about 7:50 a.m. Eastern/6:50 a.m. Central to discuss this anniversary and its importance. Please listen live here or catch the podcast later here.

This will be the last 2025 Anniversary to examine as Advent begins Sunday, November 30!

What is a "Gaudy"? and why was Newman invited? If you've read Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night, a Wimsey-Vane mystery novel, you might recognize the word. 

A Trinity College Gaudy is for "Old Fellows"--a festive college reunion for alumni. The current Trinity College website posts this information: "Gaudy reunions are held two or three times a year, and we usually invite three or more matriculation years to return to Trinity at a time for a dinner and stay in College. Invitations will be sent automatically to those who are eligible . . ." Matriculation refers to the date the alumni entered the college. In the USA, our high school or college reunions are based on the year of graduation and are usually just for one year.

So this was another honor for Newman and coming from his college it meant much to him. When he had been invited to receive the honorary fellowship, he'd written to his Bishop, Dr. Ullathorne:

My old College, Trinity College, where I was an undergraduate from the age of 16 to 21, till I gained a Fellowship at Oriel, has made me an Honorary Fellow of their Society. Of course it involves no duties, rights or conditions, not even that of belonging to the University, certainly not that of having a vote as Master of Arts, but it is a mark of extreme kindness to me from men I have never seen, and it is the only instance of their exercising their power since it was given them.

Trinity College has been the one and only seat of my affections at Oxford, and to see once more, before I am taken away, what I never thought I should see again, the place where I began the battle of life, with my good angel by my side, is a prospect almost too much for me to bear.

So it's not Oriel College, where he'd served as Fellow (and Tutor for a time) but Trinity, that he held most dear in his memory. He had been confirmed and received his first Anglican communion in the Trinity College Chapel, on Sunday November 30 1817 and he wrote in the Apologia pro Vita Sua that "Trinity had never been unkind to me."

After receiving the Cardinal's hat, Trinity honored him again! Some details about this Gaudy from Ward's Life of Newman:

Trinity College, Oxford, invited the new Cardinal to dine at the College Gaudy on Trinity Monday 1880. The Cardinal accepted, and preached on Trinity Sunday at the Jesuit Church in Oxford [now the Oxford Oratory] to a crowded congregation. The dinner on the Monday was a far more stately function than that which he had attended in February 1878, after his election as Honorary Fellow. There were numerous guests, and ladies were invited to a reception in the evening. These were presented in turn to the Cardinal, who received them in semi-royal state. The late Sir Richard Jebb was at the dinner, and told the present writer that Newman's informal speech on the occasion was a model of perfect tact and grace. For half an hour or so, sitting in his chair, he talked to the table of Oxford memories—of Whately, Pusey, Blanco White, Hawkins, and many another, not forgetting his old Trinity tutor Thomas Short, who had passed away since his visit of 1878.

These functions were physically exhausting to the Cardinal, but they were the outward symbols of work done for the good cause and were intensely grateful to him. . . .

As to the lasting significance of this anniversary: Trinity College has a page dedicated to Saint John Henry Newman and his career there, including this detail about the College Dining Hall:

Trinity’s dining hall includes a portrait of John Henry Newman painted by Bessie Johnson, daughter of John Percival (President of Trinity from 1878-87) as a gift to the College when the family left Oxford. It is a copy of a portrait by Walter William Ouless, which hangs in Oriel College. Newman wears his Cardinal’s robes, and a golden Cardinal’s hat that adorns the frame. [You can see the portrait on the right wall in this picture.]

There's also a bust of Newman in the Trinity College Gardens by the French artist Léon-Joseph Chavaillard.

Oriel College, while perhaps second in his affections, has also honored Saint John Henry Newman, with statements here and here about his being named both a Doctor of the Church and co-Patron of Catholic education with Saint Thomas Aquinas! The College chapel has an oratory and stained glass window dedicated to Newman.

Finally, as devotion to Saint John Henry Newman has increased, at least as evidenced by his canonization and proclamation as a Doctor and Patron (and more and more books!), there might be signs of a "Catholic revival in Oxford" although some Anglican authorities are still a little uncertain about how to receive all this news about one who "poped" 180 years ago  . . . 

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

Center picture: view of Trinity College through the college gates, copyright Stephanie A. Mann, 2025 (taken in 2003).