Newman Documentary

Newman Documentary, Day 12, Rome

Fr. Juan Velez May 23, 2025

Day 12: Rome
May 22, 2025

Dear Friends,

Some of you have written to comment on the different places visited and people interviewed and to express your excitement with this documentary project. Thank you for sharing our enthusiasm.

Today, the Lumine film team concluded their European journey, wrapping up nearly two weeks of intensive work and travel through London, Oxford, Birmingham, Dublin, Malta, Sicily, and Rome.

Portrait by Auguste Moede Jansen. (b. Osnabruck 1921-Germany)

Our final day included filming at the College of Propaganda Fide, where John Henry Newman resided alongside his close friend and fellow convert, Ambrose St. John. Established in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII, the college was dedicated to training secular priests for missionary work and was situated adjacent to the Piazza di Spagna.

We visited the Chapel of the Three Magi, situated on the ground floor, the site of Newman’s ordination into the Catholic priesthood on May 30, 1847. The chapel, designed by Francesco Borromini, replaced an earlier one by Bernini. It is a baroque style featuring curved interior corners and a vault with an octagonal center, housing a golden dove representing the Holy Spirit. Additionally, we saw the Newman Chapel on the first floor (the second for us), which houses the altar where he celebrated his first Mass as a Catholic priest on June 3, 1847.

Later, the film team reconvened with Fr. Hermann at St. Peter’s Square. During his earlier travels as an Anglican, Newman had been deeply moved by the candlelit dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and the resonant singing of the Magnificat.

These experiences contributed to Newman’s realization that the chair of the Apostle Peter, established by Jesus, was essential for maintaining the Church’s doctrinal and spiritual unity. While he acknowledged the Anglican Church’s apostolic succession and holiness in some of its members, he recognized its lack of communion safeguarded by the office of the Vicar of Christ.

Throughout his life, Newman interacted with three popes: Gregory XVI, who sent him a silver crucifix; Pius IX, who welcomed him in Rome, entrusted him with founding the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England, and conferred upon him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on August 22, 1850; and Leo XIII, who elevated him to the cardinalate on May 12, 1879. These gestures reflected the recognition and affection Newman received from the spiritual leaders of the Church, whose authority he came to deeply respect upon his conversion in 1845.

In the afternoon, we visited the International Centre of Newman Friends, operated by the Spiritual Family “The Work.” This community, with residences in several countries, is devoted to promoting devotion to St. John Henry Newman and maintains Littlemore, the house where Newman was received into the Church. Sr. Christiane graciously welcomed us and shared insights about Newman’s life and legacy.

Newman’s spiritual journey ended in Roman Catholicism and it is therefore significant to end this part of the filming here in Rome, next to the See of Peter. Thank you for accompanying us on this journey with St. John Henry Newman. In June, the Lumine team will continue filming in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Miami, Florida. Following this, director Gustavo Leite will oversee the documentary’s post-production. Please keep him and the Lumine staff in your prayers, that through this documentary, many may come to know Our Lord Jesus Christ and the richness of our Catholic faith.

Prayer:

O God, who bestowed on your Priest Saint John Henry Newman the grace to follow your kindly light and find peace in your Church; graciously grant that, through his intercession and example, we may be led out of shadows and images into the fullness of your truth.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(From the Memorial Mass of St. John Henry Newman)

 

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Links to Websites

About Cardinal John Henry Newman

National Institute for Newman Studies

Centro Internazionale degli Amici di Newman

The Oratory, Birmingham

Archdiocese of Birmingham, England

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About Cardinal John Henry Newman

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A Guide to John Henry Newman will interest educated readers and professors alike, and serve as a text for college seminars for the purpose of studying Newman.

Review by Catherine Maybanks
(Catholic Herald, April 1, 2023)

Review by Serenheed James
(Antiphon, April 2023)

 This book is being currently considered for reprinting, all enquiries to the Sales Team general@alivepublishing.co.uk
 

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Endorsement by Neyra Blanco (Amazon)
I bought this book for my son and he loved it, he wrote this review and urged my to submitted: “I think this book has a very beautiful message, because it shows how the young Newman was so determined to achieve his dream of becoming a priest, but even after his dream he continued to work in the church with passion until the day he died, it’s so admirable that even Newman so old and so weak still had that urge to continued his work of being a priest. And the book is well written with words not too complicated with very enjoyable texts and well illustrated pictures. I highly recommend this book for a 5th grader.  

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What is a Classical Liberal Arts Education? Why is it so important for the development of a person?

Fr. Juan R. Vélez answers these and more questions you might have about University Education in the 21st century. This book is aimed for parents, prospective University students, and educators. It will help you discern why adding Liberal Arts electives to your education will help it form it better, and help the student learn to reason, and not just learn.

He also explains how many Universities have changed the true meaning of Liberal Arts, and the subjects, and gives advise on how to choose College Campus, Subjects, and Teachers.

A wonderful book that every parent should also read way before your children are College bound. A Liberal Arts education can start earlier in life, even from home.

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Endorsement by Christopher Moellering (Goodreads, September 14, 2019)
In Passion for Truth Fr. Vélez gave us an outstanding biography of Cardinal Newman. In this work, he provides a concise overview of his thought and his devotion. This is a great work for someone who, perhaps hearing of Newman for the first time because of his beatification 13 October, 2019, wants to know more about this English saint.Vélez is a wonderful writer in his own right, and the frequent quotations from Newman round out the work nicely. I especially appreciated the frequent citing of Newman’s Meditations and Devotions, which show a different side of his spirituality than his more well-known works, Development of Christian Doctrine and the Grammar of Assent.

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Review by Gregory J. Sullivan (Amazon, May 25, 2012)

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Take Five: Meditations with John Henry Newman, endorsement by Illow M. Roque (Amazon, September 3, 2010)
“There is a time to put direct inquiry on hold and give ourselves to prayer and practical duties.” Sound advice from one of the earlier, thought-provoking reminders in this sparkling gem of a book: Take Five | Meditations with John Henry Newman, written by Mike Aquilina and Fr. Juan R. Vélez and published by Our Sunday Visitor. This particular paragraph, referenced above, which begins with a direct quote from soon-to-be canonized priest, cardinal and poet, John Henry Newman: “Study is good, but it gets us only so far . . .” is actually the 15th in a series of 76 concise, logically organized meditations moving from the elementary to the sublime. Each meditation–one per page–is built upon the great man’s writings and remarkably rich spirituality. Whether taken whole in one reading or in part page-by-page over a course of weeks and months, these wonderfully insightful meditations will open up, even to the busiest reader in the midst of the world, a unique pathway into prayer and contemplation. My advice to spiritual inquirers at all levels, from the novice to the spiritually adept, is to follow the authors’ recommendation to use this book as a guide for daily prayer and meditation. The structure of the book itself is ideal: first, the authors introduce us to Cardinal Newman, the man, where we are given the opportunity to get to know him through a brief sketch of his life and spirituality at the beginning of the book. This is something readers will likely find themselves referring to again and again, prompting many, I suspect, to even wider explorations of this most gifted Christian leader. Then comes the meditations, consisting of a short summary of Newman’s thoughts on subjects taken, as the authors explain, from various salient points for which Newman is justly remembered: The pursuit of objective religious truth; Teaching on the Virtues; Defense of the Catholic Church; A devout spiritual and moral life; and Generosity and loyalty in his friendships, which sets the topic and tone for each meditation to follow. Each meditation consists of an excerpt taken from Newman’s thirty-plus volumes of writings and diaries. Next comes three brief and extremely useful sections entitled: “Think About It,” which establishes a prayerfully resonant tone throughout the book; “Just Imagine,” which provides a vivid, prayerful experience of the Scriptures that tie in, and finally, “Remember,” a pithy summation which the authors suggest may be used as a daily aspiration. Each meditation is given its own page, which makes it ideal for daily reflection for readers on the go. This book is a must have for every serious Catholic who wants to take their faith to the next level, which is to respond appropriately to the universal call to holiness and seek interior union with God.
About Newman
Fr. Brian Geary

Lead Kindly Light

Lead, Kindly Light. Such are the first words of Newman’s most famous poem, and arguably among the most famous lines he ever penned.

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Fr. Brian Geary August 7, 2026
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