Untitled - Digitizing America

and languages into a rapidly expanding but united
religion that was also united in its allegiance to a
country that was a second home to many.
The outstanding missionary bishop of this era,
John Nepomucene Neumann was born and educated
in Bohemia, then emigrated to America to
minister to the German immigrant. After several
years of fruitful work, Neumann heeded the call to
religious community and became the first novice
of the Redemptorist Congregation in America.
Father Neumann's holiness came to the attention
of Francis Patrick Kenrick, Archbishop of Baltimore,
who recommended him for the See of
Philadelphia. Neumann did all in his power to
avoid this honor but in 1852 he was appointed the
fourth Bishop of Philadelphia under obedience
and without appeal.
Although his years in Philadelphia were marked by
the establishment of scores of churches and
dozens of schools, his primary concern was the
spiritualwelfare of his flock. ln this regard he promoted
the Forty Hours Devotion and spent much
time each year visiting far-flung missions. No
place was too distant nor too crude for him if it
meant confirming only one child. His devotion led
him to master enough of the difficult Gaelic tongue
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to hear the confessions of newly arrived lrish immigrants,
and to establish the pioneer all-ltalian
parish in America, St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi.
Bishop Neumann's favorite missions were always
the poorest and the most forgotten. Thinking their
bishop too poor and too humble for their proud city,
Philadelphians yearned for a more urbane,
sophisticated shepherd. Even his critics, however,
joined in mourning Bishop Neumann's untimely
death in his forty-ninth year. He was indeed "a
man all called holy."
Propagators Of The Faith
everend Louis William
Valentine DuBouig, a French Sulpician, in addition
to being a demanding mentor of the saintly
Mother Elizabeth Seton and a principal figure in
the establishment of her original school and convent,
distinguished himself in priestly service as
the administrator and then bishop of a battlebesieged
New Orleans.
He was a constant organizer and promoter of educational
institutions and it was his 1822 trip to
Washington, D.C., that convinced the United