The Pope will beatify Cardinal Newman at an open-air service in Birmingham The Pope will beatify 19th Century theologian Cardinal Newman in an open-air Mass on the final day of his four-day state visit to the UK.
The event, in Birmingham, will be the first beatification by the Pope himself.
After the Mass in Cofton Park, the Pope will meet men studying for the priesthood, before returning to Rome.
PM David Cameron will thank the Pope for challenging the UK to “sit up and think”.
Some 1,200 coaches will bring more than 60,000 people to the Mass, although the numbers expected are lower than the original estimates.
BBC correspondent James Robbins said John Henry Newman will be presented as a hero, a man of conscience and a model for Catholics to emulate – but he also predicted a tide of unbelief in British society.
His beatification sets him firmly on the road to sainthood, our correspondent added.
During the trip, Pope Benedict has spoken out about what he called the “marginalisation” of Christianity and the march of “aggressive secularism”.
But speaking in Birmingham, Mr Cameron will tell Benedict: “Faith is part of the fabric of our country.
“It always has been and it always will be.”
The pope’s brief meeting with five British victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests – four women and a man – followed exactly the same pattern as previous ones with similar small groups during visits to Australia, the United States, and Malta.
The Pope’s words have always been strong in his denunciation of what, in his homily in Westminster Cathedral, he called “unspeakable crimes”.
But what’s new about this latest action is that he also met carers who are helping victims of paedophile priests overcome the trauma of what happened to them in their youth.
The dilemma Pope Benedict now has to face is whether to keep talking about the crisis every time he travels, and if he does, how to do it in a way that’s constructive.
Mr Cameron will say that people did not have to share a faith to see the value of the “searching questions” that the Pope had posed about “society and how we treat ourselves and each other”.
“You have really challenged the whole country to sit up and think, and that can only be a good thing,” he will say.
“Because I believe we can all share in your message of working for the common good… and that we all have a social obligation to each other, to our families and our communities.”
The Pope will pay a visit the Catholic Seminary of Oscott, which struggles to find sufficient recruits to train as future priests.
And he will end his state visit with an address to the Bishops of England, Scotland and Wales, when he is expected to refer again to the abuse of children – an issue which has run through his trip to Britain.
Speaking on Saturday during a Mass at Westminster Cathedral, Pope Benedict expressed his “deep sorrow” for the “unspeakable crimes” of child abuse within the Catholic Church.
The pontiff also held a private 30-minute meeting at the Vatican ambassador’s home in Wimbledon with five abuse survivors, three of whom were from Yorkshire, one from London and another from Scotland.
The Pope then conducted a prayer vigil with thousands of people in Hyde Park.
The Pope asked the congregation to show concern for victims of child abuse
Other engagements on the third day of the first state visit by a pope included a meeting with Mr Cameron, his deputy Nick Clegg and acting Labour leader Harriet Harman. The former prime minister Tony Blair, a convert to Catholicism, attended the Mass at Westminster.
During Saturday afternoon a march and rally organised by Protest the Pope – an umbrella campaign group opposed to the Pope’s visit – took place in central London.
Meanwhile, six men who were being held in connection with an alleged threat to the Pope’s visit were released without charge.
Sources at Scotland Yard told the BBC that detectives who had interviewed the men believed there was “no credible threat” .
The street cleaners were arrested on Friday after being overheard in the works canteen apparently plotting an attack.
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