Why did Pope Leo XIII make John Henry Newman a cardinal in 1879?

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St. John Henry Newman English prelate, theologian, and poet John Henry Newman converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845. He was made a cardinal in 1879.

In 1879, Pope Leo XIII appointed John Henry Newman as a cardinal deacon of St. George in Velabro.1

While Pope Leo XIII was known for his conservative theological stance—specifically his promotion of Thomism as the official philosophical system of the Roman Catholic Church—he recognized the stature and contributions of Newman, whose own theological work was more Augustinian in nature. Newman’s elevation to the cardinalate served to affirm his significant standing within the church, following years of suspicion from some clergy and the widespread acclaim he received for his 1864 work, Apologia pro Vita Sua.21