January 18, 2011. Cardinal John Henry Newman was ordained as a priest in 1847 in this chapel dedicated to The Three Wisemen. The chapel was part of the Vatican congregation responsible for missionaries around the world. Now, thanks to the opening of the museum by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in one visit you can see all the places which had a profound effect on this blessed.

The Chapel of the Three Kings was designed by Bernini in 1643, at the request of Cardinal Antonio Barberini. However, during the construction, the work was taken over by another great artist of the time: Borromini.

At first he planned on expanding the chapel, but  eventually chose to demolish it before Bernini's own eyes.  

Inside this same building of the congregation and within walking distance of the chapel, a smaller and more intimate chapel was built, where Cardinal Newman celebrated Mass for the first time in his life.

Francesco Buranelli
Secretary, Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church
“The Newman Chapel is a small chapel, very private, located in the part of the building made by Borromini, it's elaborately decorated in full Baroque style, a true masterpiece dedicated to Newman and his time here. He was ordained in the chapel of The Three Kings and celebrated his first Mass in the little chapel.”

John Henry Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI last September during his trip to the UK. He came from an Anglican family and in 1824 was appointed deacon of the Anglican Church. After studying the origins of Christianity in depth, he decided to move to the Catholic Church.