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The 2025 St. John Henry Newman Lecture: Abigail Favale

This year’s lecturer is Dr. Abigail Favale of the McGrath Center at the University of Notre Dame. Her story brings to life the wrenching tumult of conversion--a conversion that began after she entered the Church and began to pry open its mysteries. There she discovered the startling beauty of a sacramental cosmos, a vision of reality that upended her notions of gender, sexuality, identity, and authority. This is a thoroughly 21st century conversion, a compelling account of recovering an ancient faith after a decade of doubt. As Dr. Favale writes, "There are events in life that leave you changed forever, right down to the very roots and heart of your being, because they go 'into the deep.'”

Event Details

February 19, 7-8:30PM CST

Information Commons, 4th Floor, Lake Shore Campus

Attendance is free and all are welcome

The St. John Henry Newman Lecture Series is named after the great 19th century English prelate who wrote movingly about his intellectual journey toward Roman Catholicism in his spiritual autobiography, Apologia pro vita sua (1864). Newman's work helped later generations Catholics and converts map out ways to understand the datum of religious faith in light of the contemporary issues facing modern life. Honoring this engagement with the Catholic tradition, CCIH invites scholars each spring to recount their own discovery (or rediscovery) of the Catholic intellectual heritage in light of their ongoing scholarship.