Saint John Neumann

Johann Nepomuk Neumann was born in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic) in 1811. He studied for the priesthood but found no open seminary spot in his home country. Hearing of the desperate need for German-speaking priests to serve immigrants in America, he sailed to New York in 1836 with a single suit and one dollar. The bishop ordained him within weeks. For four years he rode alone on horseback through the wilderness near Niagara Falls, serving scattered German Catholic settlers — celebrating Mass in barns, living in log cabins, traveling hundreds of miles. Exhausted and alone, he joined the Redemptorist order in 1842, becoming the first Redemptorist to take vows in America. He eventually became superior of all Redemptorists in the U.S. In 1852, to his horror, Pope Pius IX appointed him Bishop of Philadelphia — one of the largest dioceses in America. Neumann was a short, humble, shy man who preferred quiet scholarship. But for eight years he transformed the diocese. He built nearly 100 churches. He founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in America, which became the model for every Catholic school system that followed. He mastered twelve languages to preach to the diverse immigrant communities. He wrote two catechisms in German for children — widely used for decades. He was exhausted but unstoppable. He dropped dead of a stroke on a Philadelphia street in 1860 at age 48, simply walking to an errand. Canonized in 1977, he is the only American bishop saint.