Director of the National Institute for Newman Studies
Christopher Cimorelli is the Director of the National Institute for Newman Studies and Associate Editor of the Newman Studies Journal. He is the author of the monograph, John Henry Newman’s Theology of History: Historical Consciousness, ‘Theological Imaginaries’, and the Development of Tradition (Peeters, 2017) and the co-editor of Salvation in the World: The Crossroads of Public Theology (Bloomsbury, 2017). He has varied research interests, including Newman studies, doctrinal development, views of doctrine and the magisterium, apophatic theology, spirituality, and ecotheology.
July 31st, 2025, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA). The National Institute for Newman Studies (NINS) is delighted to announce that Pope Leo XIV has confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be conferred on St. John Henry Newman, Cardinal of the Catholic Church and Founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in England.
As the calendar year draws to a close, many face the onerous preparations and obligations that mark the holiday season, and the hustle and bustle and frenzy of the shopping season is palpable—not to mention year-end reports or grading for some. Cards, lists, stores, travel. In the northern hemisphere, and places like Pittsburgh, the sun takes its leave far too early each day, and the bitter winds test the worth of our textiles.
For many, it is easier to be caught up in the academic, fiscal, or calendar years than the liturgical year that indicates the ultimate frame of our lives. In my case, this is especially true during Lent. This year, I came across a pithy meditation of Newman’s, “A Short Road to Perfection”, which I hope can reframe the way I understand Lent and discipleship more generally.
It was all the more remarkable when I discovered a collection of “Newman detractors” on the premises, a collection indicating the conflict between Newman, the champion of Roman Catholicism in England, and mainly evangelical Free Church academics around the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century.
The National Institute for Newman Studies (NINS) is pleased to announce the ongoing expansion of our digital collections through formal agreements with several institutions in England.
