About Us

The John Paul II Newman Center was named and established at its present site in 1979, just after the Chicago visit of the then new pope. For over 27 years it has cultivated the faith of Catholic students, staff and faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago by: building a community based on shared spiritual and ethical values; promoting value-oriented intellectual discourse and inquiry on vital moral and spiritual issues in a spirit of freedom, honesty, and civility and offering religious, educational, and social programs that support and nurture spiritual growth and moral leadership. In 1999 the Arthur J. Schmidt Foundation endowed for the Newman Center a Chair in Catholic Studies. The University offered 11 courses in Catholic studies this past year, as a result of that gift. Standing on this solid base of achievement, we are ready to renew ourselves and to help renew the face of the earth.