ROME — Cardinal John Newman, the most famous British convert to Catholicism, could be beatified this year, the Vatican has said, setting him on a path to become the first British saint in 40 years.

“Cardinal Newman was a relevant intellectual, an emblematic figure of conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism and personally I wish his beatification to happen very soon,” Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of the Saints, said.

The announcement, made by the cardinal in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, came as the pope prepared to crack down on the number of new saints created by the Catholic church.

Cardinal Martins said a 20-page rulebook would shortly be circulated to all bishops to “reflect the new spirit introduced by Pope Benedict in the sainthood process.” “More sobriety, more rigor, more accuracy, and maximum caution” would be used.

The new rules aim to tighten up a process that has seen unprecedented numbers of saints emerging in recent years. Pope John Paul II recognized 483 saints and beatified an additional 1,345 people.

In less than three years, Benedict has recognized 14 saints and beatified 559. The high numbers have led to criticism that the Catholic church is acting as a “saint factory,” churning out new figures for the public to revere.

The sudden spike in the number of new saints is partly because of John Paul II’s decision in 1983 to abolish the office of the promotor fidei, or “devil’s advocate” — a canon lawyer appointed to take a skeptical view of the candidate’s character.

In the case of Cardinal Newman, the Vatican has been assessing claims that a 69-year-old American was inexplicably cured of a crippling spinal condition after praying to the theologian who converted in 1845 and died in 1890.

If the recovery is approved as a miracle, Cardinal Newman would be declared “blessed” and would then be one step from canonization, for which a second miracle would be needed.