A portrait of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman moved into a place of prominence today at the Viatorian Province Center.

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman

In light of the Vatican announcement that Cardinal Newman would be canonized Oct. 13 in Rome, his formal painting moved into the main lobby. The regal looking portrait has been part of the Viatorian religious art collection for nearly 80 years.

“For many years, the Viatorians have been associated with the writings of Cardinal Newman,” said Br. Don Houde, CSV, unofficial art historian of the Viatorian Community.

Br. Don Houde, CSV, is the unofficial art historian of the Viatorian Community.

In fact, several Viatorians served in Newman Centers — named for Cardinal Newman — at universities across the country, including Fr. William Bergin, CSV, Fr. Donald Huntimer, CSV, Fr. John Linnan, CSV, and Fr. Robert Erickson, CSV.

The Province Center library contains more than 50 books by the prolific Cardinal Newman, and the archives contains Fr. Linnan’s dissertation, which he defended in 1965, while earning a doctorate in sacred theology at Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

The two-volume, 576-pages of research is entitled: “The Evangelical Background of John Henry Newman.”