… perhaps my most cherished memory is that of the greatest man whom I have ever known—Cardinal Newman.—James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore (1917)

When the history of Oxford during that time comes to be written, the historian will have to record the extraordinary, the unexampled career of that distinguished man in the University. He will have to tell, as I believe, that Dr. Newman exercised for a period of about ten years after 1833 an amount of influence, of absorbing influence, over the highest intellects … We know how his influence was sustained: by his extraordinary purity of character and the holiness of his life—William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1878)

He shed cheerfulness as a sunbeam sheds light, even while many difficulties were pressing. Delightful it was to be on his staff, and to hear him draw out, with the gentlest possible forceps, what each friend or professor had to say on his own particular theme … What a time it was! Reading, thinking, writing, working, walking with him in times of recreation over the pleasant fields, park, and gardens … listening to talk that was never didactic and never dull; refreshing after the toil of the day as running waters—John Hungerford Pollen, Professor of Fine Arts at the University in Dublin (1855-1858) while Newman was Rector (written 1906)

As he spoke, how the old truth became new! how it came home with a meaning never felt before! He laid his finger—how gently, yet how powerfully,—on some inner place in the hearer's heart, and told him things about himself he had never known till then.—J C Shairp (1868)

Newman … guided solely by love of the truth and fidelity to Christ, traced an itinerary, the most toilsome, but also the greatest, the most meaningful, the most conclusive, that human thought ever travelled during the last century, indeed one might say during the modern era, to arrive at the fulness of wisdom and of peace.—Pope Saint Paul VI (1963)

We are so very sorry to hear of continued weakness and shaken health, and shall pray most earnestly that sufficient strength may be given you to work on, yet many years in the service of your Lord and Love … But each suffering brings forth its own child of benediction which will not die because it is not of nature but of grace. There are thousands of such springing up from you my very dear Father in hidden places, where you do not suspect them:—hearts that love you as their guide into the Faith—hearts that you have reconciled—that you have comforted, that you have guided to the bridal chamber of their Spouse.—Those many voices of childlike love and gratitude all blend in one persevering prayer that you may be rewarded with Life, Eternal Life … for all the good things that you have done to them.—Sister Mary Gabriel Du Boulay, OSD, to Fr Newman (1861)

Almost for the first time Newman compelled his generation to the use of exact reason. Almost for the first time in the long controversies whereof his audience had heard but confused affirmations, he threw the enemy upon the defensive; and since the time when he so acted the effect of his counter attack has spread over wider and wider circles ... Such is the power of three things combined, interest in reality, an ardor to defend reality, use of the reason for the defense of reality.—Hilaire Belloc (1928)

The Holy Father deeply appreciating the genius and learning which distinguish you, your piety, the zeal displayed by you in the exercise of the Holy Ministry, your devotion and filial attachment to the Holy Apostolic See, and the signal services you have for long years rendered to religion, has decided on giving you a public and solemn proof of his esteem and good-will. And to this end he will deign to raise you to the honours of the Sacred Purple, in the next Consistory—Cardinal Nina for Pope Leo XIII  (1879)

I said, 'Please Cardinal Newman, make the bleeding stop.' And just then, immediately it stopped. And I stood up and I smelled roses that filled the bathroom air ... And I said, 'Oh Cardinal Newman, did you just make the bleeding stop? Thank you!' And then there was this second burst of roses. And I knew I was cured, and I knew Gemma my daughter was ok ... Thanks be to Cardinal Newman and to God that I was cured and Gemma was born completely healthy.—Melissa Villalobos, whose spontaneous healing in 2013 of the life-threatening problem in her pregnancy led to Newman's canonization in 2019

The characteristic of the great Doctor of the Church, it seems to me, is that he teaches not only through his thought and speech but also by his life, because within him, thought and life are interpenetrated and defined. If this is so, then Newman belongs to the great teachers of the Church, because he both touches our hearts and enlightens our thinking.—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) (1990)

John Henry Newman belongs to every time and place and people—Pope Saint John Paul II (2001)

... it is a great joy to include Saint John Henry Newman among the Doctors of the Church, and, at the same time, on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, to name him, together with Saint Thomas Aquinas, as co-Patron of the Church’s educational mission. Newman’s impressive spiritual and cultural stature will surely serve as an inspiration to new generations whose hearts thirst for the infinite ...—Pope Leo XIV (2025)

Many more comments on Saint Newman are provided in the Foreword and Appendix 2 of the free eBook.