Fr. Joseph Elamparayil is a graduate of The Catholic University of America. His dissertation is titled, "John Henry Newman's Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church: A Contextual History and Ecclesiological Analysis."
Newman was not a mere tourist or pilgrim during his Mediterranean voyage, rather he was a curious Anglican looking for an "enlargement of mind" and benefit of health. In fact, by tracing the footsteps of the apostles, fathers, and the great saints of Christianity, he sought a personal ecclesial enlargement.
Newman was interested in the events happening back home and added that the church in England might console herself with the knowledge of having partners in misfortune in Sicily and Italy. Years later, in his Apologia, he recalled what he truly felt: "England was in my thoughts solely, and the news from England came rarely and imperfectly.
In a letter to his mother, Newman not only described how the Mediterranean was the seat of the most celebrated empires and events, but also how it had become the center of the lives of the church fathers.
What did John Henry Newman learn from his first journey to Rome in 1833, and how did it affect him? Did he experience what he later called an "enlargement of mind" during this visit to Rome?
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