1833–1845

The Oxford Movement and John Henry Newman's conversion to Catholicism

The Oxford Movement began in 1833 with John Keble's sermon "National Apostasy," protesting Parliament's weakening of the Church of England. It expressed itself through a series of "Tracts for the Times." The movement defended the episcopate, apostolic succession, tradition and the real presence, contrasting the early church with the Reformation.

Its leader, John Henry Newman, wrote the first and last (90th, 1841) tract. In it he argued that the Thirty-Nine Articles were compatible with the teaching of the Council of Trent. The tract provoked an outcry, and the series was ended.

In 1845 Newman converted to Catholicism and published his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. There he argued that doctrine develops under the Spirit's guidance. He later became a cardinal (1879). Most Tractarians remained Anglican, giving rise to liturgical renewal and the revival of monastic orders.