My sister forwarded a bundle of mail which included The Oratorian, a magazine for alumni of The Oratory School. It gave me a bit of a jolt, especially as it arrived in the week of my 40th birthday when I'm feeling unusually nostalgic. I never think about my days there. That period between 13 and 18 years old was a kind of purgatory. It wasn't until I left school in 1994 that my life began. But the founder, John Henry Newman, interests me. The Oratory Fathers wanted ‘Eton minus the wickedness’ and so The Oratory was founded by John Henry Newman in 1859. Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was a theologian who converted to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism in October 1845. In early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots. There was an article in the magazine on Ambrose St. John, John Henry’s ‘husband’ for 32 years, although of course it didn't refer to him like that. Newman insisted three different times that he be buried in the same grave with St. John: “I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St. John’s grave -- and I give this as my last, my imperative will,” he wrote, later adding: “This I confirm and insist on.” Newman died of pneumonia on Aug. 11, 1890 at age 89. The shroud over his coffin bore his personal coat of arms with the Latin motto, “Cor ad cor loquitur” (Heart speaks to heart), which he adopted when he became cardinal. Their joint memorial stone is inscribed with a Latin motto chosen by Newman: “Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem.”(Out of the shadows and reflections into the truth.”) They shared a small grave in the English town of Rednal until the Vatican removed his remains in an attempt to cover up the relationship. With beatification, Newman is now only one step away from official sainthood. Canonization would make Cardinal Newman the first English person who has lived since the 17th century to be officially recognised as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. He was beatified on 19 September 2010 at an open air mass in Birmingham. He is already a saint to me and I hope he and Ambrose are having a ball up in gay heaven.