Saint John Nepomucene Neumann

John Neumann was born in Bohemia on March 28, 1811. Because he wished to devote himself to missionary work in America, he went to the United States as a seminarian. He was ordained a priest in New York in 1836 by Bishop Dubois. In 1840 he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists). He worked in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In 1852 he became Bishop of Philadelphia.

There he worked with great dedication: he organized a diocesan network of Catholic schools, worked to improve conditions in his parishes, and cared especially for the national parishes that gathered many immigrants. He opened many shelters for the poor, where poor children were taken in. He visited prisons and stood at the bedsides of the dying. He governed the diocese wisely, made personal visitations of the parishes, and convened synods. He laid the foundation for the cathedral in Philadelphia and contributed to the building of more than 80 churches. He also wrote articles for many Catholic newspapers and magazines and published two catechisms. He knew eight languages, a great asset for his missionary work in the multilingual American society of the 19th century.

He was the first bishop in the United States to introduce the Forty Hours’ Devotion in his diocese. Bishop Neumann died on January 5, 1860, and was beatified in 1963. On June 19, 1977, Pope Paul VI canonized him, thus numbering him among the saints.