A new documentary about the life of St John Henry Newman has premiered in Rome, marking the first celebration of his feast day since Pope Leo XIV declared him the 38th doctor of the Church in 2025. Source: National Catholic Register.
The film, Lead Kindly Light: The Story of Saint John Henry Newman premiered at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome on October 9.
The movie, produced by Lumine Studios in Brazil, features places significant to St Newman’s life, including his childhood home in London, the University of Oxford, and Rome, where he studied for the Catholic priesthood after converting from Anglicanism.
The movie is available in English on the Catholic media website, Formed.
Familia Spiritualis Opus Fr Hermann Geissler, director of the International Centre of Newman Friends in Rome, described the movie as a demonstration of faith and the significant personal sacrifices that would mark Newman’s life.
“It is a documentary film where we visit all of the places where Newman lived, doing interviews,” Fr Geissler told EWTN News, “and where we are telling the story of Newman and reading parts of Newmanʼs letters. It is a wonderful film that shows the great faith of Newman, the sacrifice that his conversion cost, and the coherence of his life and thought.”
Pope Francis canonised St John Henry Newman along with four others in 2019, after Pope Benedict XVI beatified him in Birmingham, England, in 2010.
In 2025, Pope Leo XIV declared him a doctor of the Church and a co-patron of Catholic education alongside St Thomas Aquinas. In his homily, the pontiff cited Newman’s famous hymn “Lead, Kindly Light” to highlight the need for education to inspire hope.
“The task of education is precisely to offer this Kindly Light to those who might otherwise remain imprisoned by the particularly insidious shadows of pessimism and fear,” Pope Leo said.
“For this reason, I would like to say to you: Let us disarm the false reasons for resignation and powerlessness, and let us share the great reasons for hope in today’s world.”
In February, the Vatican established Newman’s feast day as October 9 in the General Roman Calendar.
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‘Lead, Kindly Light’: New Documentary On St. John Henry Newman Premieres in Rome (National Catholic Register)
