SAINTS/HEROES OF NEW YORK
St. John Nepomucene Neumann was born in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in 1811. At the age of 24, in 1835, having attended seminary and as he prepared to complete his studies in theology, Neumann learned that the Catholic Church in Bohemia had declared a moratorium on new ordinations because they had more priests than assignments for them. Determined to become a priest, he set sail for New York, where he arrived with no money and a single suit of clothes.
In June 1836, Bishop John Dubois ordained Neumann at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (now the Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in SoHo). He assigned the young priest, who spoke eight languages, to minister to German immigrants at the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Williamsville, near Buffalo, which at the time was part of the Diocese of New York.
For four years, Neumann rode his large rural parish on horseback, building community, visiting the sick, educating children and training teachers to carry on as catechists in his absence. Then, in 1840, he applied to join the Redemptorist Fathers, was accepted, and moved to Baltimore to study. The first Redemptorist candidate in the Americas, he took his vows with the order in 1842, then served parish assignments in Ohio and Maryland, tirelessly developing religious education and strengthening communities. In 1849 he became the provincial superior for the Redemptorists in the United States, and three years later, he was named bishop of Philadelphia.
With his many languages and understanding of diverse cultures, Neumann was an ideal choice to lead the Church in the so-called City of Brotherly Love, a growing urban region that was attracting Catholic immigrants from all over Europe. It was no easy task, as anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant factions, urged on by organizations like the Know Nothing Party, were rioting regularly against the Germans, Italians and Irish who were streaming into the Philadelphia area. Against this backdrop, Neumann worked to help immigrants find a footing in the city and to establish sound finances for many church communities. More than 90 new churches were built in the diocese under his watch, and nearly 200 parochial schools. He invited European religious orders to establish ministries in Philadelphia, including the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who provided religious instruction in the many new schools, and supported the Oblate Sisters of Providence, an order of African-American women religious. A humble man, he also eschewed material comforts; legend has it that he owned only one pair of shoes during his decades in America.
At the age of 48, in 1860, Bishop Neumann collapsed and died while out walking in Philadelphia. He was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1977. “His love for people was authentic brotherly love,” the pope said in his homily for the occasion. “He was close to the sick; he was at home with the poor; he was a friend to sinners. And today he is the honor of all immigrants.”
Reprinted from Archways Magazine | Fall 2020