Tomb was opened – but there was no skeleton
THERE remains an air of mystery around Birmingham’s most famous religious figure.
Speculation went into overdrive when his tomb was opened 11 years ago as a prelude to sainthood – only to discover there was no skeleton and precious few remains.
A leading forensic expert dubbed total decomposition of the 100-yearold corpse improbable.
Cardinal Newman’s 117-year-old grave in Rednal was opened in 2008. Church leaders asked for the body to be exhumed as part of the process of proclaiming a new saint. Organisations present during the painstaking operation included Birmingham Health Authority, the Ministry of Justice, a doctor and a pathologist.
But when the grave was opened, no skeletal remains could be found.
The Church maintains that is “unsurprising”.
The soil is damp and acid, with a stream running close by. And the body was covered with soft mould – as requested by Cardinal Newman – to speed up decomposition.
Reporting on the 1890 funeral, the Birmingham Post said: “[The body] was covered with mould in studious and affectionate fulfilment of a particular desire of Dr Newman’s. This was to facilitate, rather than impede, the operation of the law: unto dust thou shalt return.”
It was further reported that some of Cardinal Newman’s keepsakes were languishing in a Birmingham sports hall cupboard.
They were thought to be in a closet at the hall, part of care charity Trident Reach’s Edgbaston headquarters.
It rented Newman House, in the grounds of The Oratory Catholic Church, the cardinal’s former base and setting for a shrine to the great man.
A member of the Oxford-based International Centre of Newman Friends speculated that the mystery items may be the cardinal’s clothing, moved from his bedroom at The Oratory during refurbishment.