Saint John Neumann
Bishop
- Feast Day
- January 5
- Life
- 1811–1860
- Canonized
- 1977
- Order
- Redemptorists (CSsR)
- Born
- Prachatitz, Bohemia
John Nepomucene Neumann was born March 28, 1811, in Prachatitz in the Kingdom of Bohemia. He pursued theological studies at the seminaries of Budweis (Ceske Budejovice) and Prague. With his diocese already supplied with priests, he sailed for the United States in 1836 and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of New York on June 25 of that year by Bishop John Dubois.
Neumann served as a missionary among German-speaking immigrants in the Niagara Falls region. In 1842 he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and pronounced his religious vows in Baltimore on January 16, 1842, becoming the first Redemptorist to profess vows in the United States. He served as Vice-Provincial of the Redemptorists in America before being named Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852.
As fourth Bishop of Philadelphia (1852-1860), Neumann organized the first diocesan-wide system of Catholic parochial schools in the United States. According to Pope Paul VI's canonization homily, he "founded approximately one hundred Catholic schools" during his episcopate. He established Philadelphia's first national parish for Italian immigrants, began construction of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, and was the first American bishop to introduce the Forty Hours' Devotion as a coordinated diocesan practice.
Neumann died suddenly of a stroke on a Philadelphia street on January 5, 1860, at age 48. He was beatified by Pope Saint Paul VI on October 13, 1963, and canonized by the same pope on June 19, 1977. His tomb is in the lower church of the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia.
Neumann's organization of diocesan Catholic schooling in Philadelphia became a template for the parochial school networks that emerged across the American hierarchy in the late nineteenth century, especially after the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884). Paul VI's canonization homily framed his sanctity in the language of his motto, "Passio Christi conforta me" (May the Passion of Christ strengthen me), tying his work for immigrant Catholics to participation in Christ's cross.
Patronages
Catholic education · sick children · immigrants
Catholic Churches Named After Saint John Neumann
20 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint John Neumann's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:
- Saint John Neumann Church — Strongsville, OH
- St. John Neumann, Marlinton — Marlinton, WV
- St. John Neumann Catholic Church — Farragut, TN
- Saint John Neumann Catholic Church — Marlinton, WV
- St. John Neumann — Irvine, CA
- St. John Neumann — Miami, FL
- St. John Neumann — Lubbock, TX
- St John Neumann — Lancaster, PA
- St. John Neumann — Eagan, MN
- St. John Neumann — Cincinnati, OH
- St. John of God - Parish of Saint John Neumann — North Cape May, NJ
- St. John Neumann — Charlotte, NC
- St. John Neumann Church — Mount Laurel, NJ
- St. John Neumann Church — Houston, TX
- Saint John Neumann Catholic Church
- St. John Neumann — Cooper Landing, AK
- St. John Neumann — Spalding, MI
- St. John Neumann — Lilburn, GA
- St. John Neumann — East Freetown, MA
- Saint John Neumann Catholic Church — North Las Vegas, NV
Sources