Cardinal John Newman's Body Missing!
Coffin Exhumed for Reburial Is Devoid of Remains
Cardinal John Henry Newman died in 1890 at age 89. He had been a High Church Anglican before converting to the Roman Catholic faith and was considered an outstanding theologian and historian.
Newman’s Beatification
Pope John Paul beatified the Cardinal in 1991 by proclaiming him venerable after his work and life were thoroughly examined. The Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Congregatio de Causis Sanctorum, is the assembly of the Roman Curia that oversees the process leading to the canonization of saints.
After preparing a case, including approving miracles, the case is presented to the Pope, who decides whether or not to beatify or canonize.
One miracle is needed for the former; two are needed for the latter. They are recognition by the Catholic Church of a dead person's accession into Heaven and to be able to intercede for individuals who pray in his or her name.
Cardinal John Henry Newman's Canonization
Canonization doesn’t make people saints; it’s a declaration that the person is a saint and was one before glorification.
In October 2005, Father Paul Chavasse, provost of the Birmingham Oratory announced a miraculous cure had occurred. Jack Sullivan, a deacon from Marshfield, Massachusetts, attributed his recovery from a serious spinal cord disorder to Cardinal Newman.
The miracle occurred in the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Boston, whose responsibility it was to determine its validity.
In August 2006 the Archbishop of Boston, Sean O’Malley was passed the details to the Vatican. The second miracle was the 2006 case of a 17-year-old New Hampshire girl who recovered from severe head injuries suffered in a car accident after a lock of Newman's hair placed on her hospital pillow by someone unknown. Pope Benedict XVI wanted to canonize him as a result of this miracle.
August 2008 was when the Vatican granted permission to move Newman’s remains from Rednal, Worcestershire, England to the Oratory in Birmingham city centre in anticipation of Newman's declaration as a saint.
Cardinal Newman’s Empty Coffin
In October 2008 his coffin was dug up. The body had totally vanished. Only a few relics, including brass fittings, remained. Explanation was that the coffin was wooden and the burial ground exceptionally damp.
Professor of Ancient History ad Archaeology, John Hunter, of the University of Birmingham, performed tests on soil samples from close to the grave site. He concluded the soil wouldn’t, in ordinary circumstances, have led to the complete decomposition of Newman's skeleton. He said soil needed to be highly acidic with a lot of ground water washing through it in order for a body to totally decompose in about 100 years. His tests showed the soil near the grave is not highly acidic. Remains, like teeth, if they were there, could have been missed if no archaeologists were present at the exhumation.
Theory about Newman’s Missing Body
Ian Panter,principal conservator for York Archaeological Trust, examined the fragments of textiles recovered from the grave. He said it was possible Newman's skeleton could have entirely decomposed. There was a similar case in York. The team retrieved three boxes of textiles from the coffin and thought there were also small fragments of bone present.
Peter Jennings, spokesman for Birmingham’s The Fathers of the Oratory performed the exhumation very carefully. Representatives from Birmingham Health Authority, the Ministry of Justice, a doctor and a pathologist were there. The firm that performed the dig was one of the most experienced in the UK.
Newman had been buried in an unlined wooden coffin. Panter said burial in a wooden coffin in a damp site makes total decomposition of the body a reasonable scenario.
Related Reading
Readers may also enjoy Unquiet Coffins.
Sources:
- “The Cardinal Vanishes,” Paul Sieveking, Fortean Times, April 2009.
Cardinal John Newman 1890
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