Odd theories and bizarre interpretations are par for the course for anything related to the Church. The upcoming beatification of John Henry Newman is no different. Attention has focused on the two Latin tags associated with the cardinal: one on his tombstone – ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem – and the other on his coat of arms: cor ad cor loquitur.
Some have gone as far as to claim that the first of the two refers to Newman's "secret" relationship with Ambrose St John, the Oratorian with whom he was buried. Unfortunately for those hoping for hidden messages, the tag, translated as “out of shadows and illusions into truth”, is likely to refer to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It is also, clearly, a poetic description to Newman's spiritual journey.
