Cardinal Manning and the Birth of Catholic Social Teaching

In this new biography, Cardinal Manning is revealed as one of the greatest men of his age, an inspirational figurehead who inspired massive depth of affection.
A former Anglican clergyman who had lost his wife after only a few years of marriage, he later became a Catholic and was ordained priest, rising to become Archbishop of Westminster. In his role as Primate, he strengthened the structure of the Church and developed a practical ecumenism. He was a champion of Papal infallibility, and at the same time a promoter of Catholic social teaching, pushing for the education of the poor, for a change of policy in Ireland, and acting as a mediator in the Great Dock Strike.

'From my plane of thought and life, I can only look at him (Manning) as a man looks at the stars.'

W.E. Gladstone

Russell Sparkes works in the City of London. He is a Visiting Fellow at St Mary’s University College, and has written books on G.K. Chesterton and Catholic poetry.