In anticipation of his much-anticipated beatification, the great English convert John Henry Cardinal Newman will be the focus of a major conference in June at the Benedictines’ Portsmouth Abbey School in Rhode Island.

Lecturers will include Patrick J. Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society and sponsor of the Newman Legacy Project; Father Richard Duffield, the English oratory priest who is Actor of the Cause for Newman's Canonization; and Deacon Jack Sullivan, the Boston-area native whose spine was miraculously healed by Newman’s intervention.

Also featured are Dr. Peter Kreeft of Boston College, Father George Rutler of New York, Newman biographer Father Ian Ker, and Newman scholars Edward Short and Dr. Paul Griffiths.

“American Catholics have such great love for Cardinal Newman, and there is much excitement that Pope Benedict will likely beatify Newman in September,” Reilly said.  “The collaboration of The Cardinal Newman Society, Portsmouth Abbey and Newman’s Oratory in Birmingham, England, will foster even greater appreciation for Cardinal Newman’s contributions to Catholic intellectual and spiritual life.”

The conference on “Newman and the Intellectual Life,” will take place from June 10-13, 2010.  Details are posted at www.PortsmouthInstitute.org.

Unofficial reports have indicated that Cardinal Newman, a 19^th-century English convert and patron for many American apostolates to college students and Catholic educators, may be beatified in September 2010 in Birmingham, England.  The Oratory in Birmingham, founded by Cardinal Newman, is the site of Newman’s former home and archives.

Father Duffield, Actor of the Cause for Newman's Canonization and Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, is scheduled to deliver a dinner banquet address on Newman’s Cause for canonization and preserving Newman’s legacy on Friday, June 11.

CNS President Reilly will speak on “Newman and the Renewal of Catholic Identity in Higher Education” on Saturday, June 12.