John Nepomucene Neumann (, , ; March 28, 1811 – January 5, 1860) was a Bohemian-born American Catholic prelate who served as the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia from 1852 to 1860.
An immigrant from Bohemia, he came to the United States in 1836, where he was ordained, joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and became the bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. In Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States. Canonized in 1977, he is the only male American citizen to be named a saint.
Early life and education
Neumann's father, Philip Neumann, was a stocking knitter from Obernburg am Main in the Electorate of Mainz. He moved to Prachatice in the Kingdom of Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czechia) in 1802 at age 28 with his wife, Antonie Strakotinská. Antonie died in November 1804 during childbirth. Philip then married the daughter of a Czech harness maker, Agnes Lepší, on July 17, 1805; John Neumann was the third of their six children: Catherine, Veronica, John, Joan, Louise, and Wenceslaus (aka Wenzel).
Neumann was born in Prachatice on March 18, 1811;Allman CSSR, Matthew. "The National Shrine of Saint John Neumann", Liguorian, January 1, 2015 he was baptized the same day in the village Catholic church. He began his education in the village grammar school when he was six. Neumann was a studious and hardworking child, with Agnes calling him "my little bibliomaniac" for his love of books and reading. Neumann spoke German at home and school. He also gained a passing knowledge of Czech during his childhood.
At age ten, Philip and Agnes told Neumann that they would allow him to further his studies gymnasium (secondary school) after grammar school. During this time period, most ten-year-old boys were sent to work. While in his final two years of grammar school, Neumann started Latin lessons with the catechist of Prachatitz to prepare himself for the gymnasium. In the autumn of 1823, Neumann passed the entrance examination, with distinction, for the Piarist School. This was a gymnasium in Budweis in South Bohemia that was operated by the Piarist Fathers.
Adolescence
Piarist School Neumann in late 1823 entered the Piarist School in Budweis. His class had 103 students; fewer than 50 would ultimately complete the six-year course. The school curriculum covered Latin, mathematics, geography, history, and Christian doctrine in the first four years, then concentrated on Latin and Greek classical authors during the final two years. Neumann was disappointed with the course's slow pace in his first years. He believed that he could easily advance to the third year, but the school would not allow it.
In the middle of Neumann's third year at the Piarist School, his professor was dismissed for appearing before a public gathering while intoxicated. The school replaced him with a much stricter professor who increased the pace of instruction to make up for lost time. The new professor also believed in rote learning, which Neumann disliked. Twenty members of Neumann's classmates dropped out, but he remained. Neumann passed the final examination with a fair average, like he had in the first and second years.
Neumann's school grades suffered in his fourth year. He found it difficult to study in his boarding house because the landlady's son kept distracting him. Philip, thinking that his son was losing interest in his studies, encouraged him to come home and learn a trade. However, Agnes and sister Veronica told him to persevere. Philip then asked a professor vacationing in Prachatice to judge his son's academic progress. After speaking with Neumann, the professor told the family that his grades did not reflect his academic progress.
Now convinced that his son could do better in gymnasium, Philip moved him to a quieter and less distracting boarding house. Neumann's grades distinctly improved, except in mathematics, his weak subject. Though his fifth and sixth-year professor was stricter than the second-year one, the boy enjoyed the coursework. Neumann achieved his highest grades at the Piarist School during his sixth and final year. Neumann's hobbies at this time included playing the guitar and making images with a pantograph.
Philosophical Institute After completing the Piarist School in 1829, Neumann began two years of study at the Philosophical Institute there. He was instructed by the Cistercian monks of Hohenfurth Abbey in Vyšší Brod. His subjects included philosophy, religion, higher mathematics, the natural sciences, and Latin philology. Neumann attained a better-than-fair grade average in philosophy, philology, and mathematics, improving in the latter subject. He excelled in botany and astronomy, forming a club with fellow students to discuss scientific subjects in their spare time.
After graduating from the Philosophical Institute in the summer of 1831, Neumann was faced with deciding to become a physician, lawyer, or priest. At the time, he seemed unlikely to join the priesthood. Neumann enjoyed science and secular poetry more than theology and the mystics. In addition, admission to the theological seminary of Budweis was difficult, especially as his family had no influential friends to recommend him.
Neumann decided to study medicine, and Philip prepared to pay the tuition for medical school. However, Agnes, sensing that her son really wanted to enter the priesthood, encouraged him to apply to the seminary. To Neumann's surprise, the seminary accepted him.
Seminary studies
Theological seminary of Budweis Neumann entered the theological seminary of the Diocese of Budweis in Budweis on November 1, 1831. Neumann spent his first two years studying theology, which he enjoyed tremendously. The first year coursework included ecclesiastical history, Biblical archaeology, and an introduction to and exegesis of the Old Testament. He received the highest possible grade, eminentem, in every subject, including diligence and conduct. At the end of his first year, Neumann was one of the few men in his seminary class permitted to take the tonsure and the minor orders.
In his second year at Budweis, the coursework included Biblical hermeneutics, philology, Greek, pedagogy, introduction to and exegesis of the New Testament, and canon law. His grades were again very good, receiving the highest grade in every subject except in one semester of pedagogy. In his spare time, Neumann began to study French, Italian, and Czech.
Also during his second year, Neumann began to read the reports of the Leopoldine Society, a missionary society based in Vienna in the Austrian Empire. The Society spoke of the need for missionary priests in the United States, especially to serve the increasing population of Catholic German immigrants. On one occasion, Neumann and his fellow seminarian Adalbert Schmidt attended a lecture by the seminary director on the missionary activities of Paul the Apostle. The two seminarians each decided to become a missionary after completing their seminary studies. Neither mentioned this plan to the other until Schmidt finally did a few weeks after the lecture. Neumann teased Schmidt for the whole month before finally admitting, "I am going with you."
To become a missionary in the United States, Neumann had to learn English. However, it was not taught in Budweis. In early 1833, Neumann successfully petitioned Bishop Arnošt Konstantin Růžičkato of Budweis to allow him to transfer to the diocesan seminary affiliated with the Charles-Ferdinand University (now known as Charles University) in Prague in the Austrian Empire.
Charles-Ferdinand University seminary
Some sources say that Neumann began to attend the French lectures at Charles-Ferdinand. However, that became impossible when the state in 1834 restricted the activities of seminarians. Nevertheless, Neumann continued to study French independently and took the French language examination. He passed the examination with a very high grade despite missing some of the lectures. Unfortunately, the Charles-Ferdinand University did not offer instruction in English. Instead, Neumann studied an English language book and conversed with English workmen at a nearby factory. After a year, he could write portions of his diary in English.
Neumann found the lectures in the university disagreeable because of the Febronianism views of his professors. Febronianism favored a reduction in the power of the pope in favor of more control by national churches. Neumann regarded this doctrine as being heretical. The lector in dogmatic theology, Jeroným Zeidler, denied papal infallibility. There is no evidence that Neumann challenged Zeidler's beliefs in class. However, at one point, Neumann said that Zeidler had little influence among his students and could therefore inflict little harm on them. Neumann eventually wrote a treatise on papal supremacy that he sent to a friend in Budweis.
Neumann privately studied the Roman Catechism, along with works of the Italian cardinal Robert Bellarmine and the Dutch doctor of the church, Peter Canisius. Neumann also read the writings of the Church Fathers, especially the theologian Augustine of Hippo and Pope Gregory the Great.
Neumann's grades at the end of the 1833 to 1834 academic year at Charles-Ferdinand were again very high, though not as high as at Budweis. In his final year at Prague, Neumann studied pastoral theology, homiletics, pedagogy, and catechetics. His grades, while good, were the lowest of his four years studying theology. By this time, Neumann was able to use German, Czech, French, English, Spanish, and Italian, as well as Latin and Greek.
Journey to America
Leaving Bohemia
While Neumann was in Prague, Schmidt was continuing his studies at the seminary in Budweis. He told his confessor, , of their intentions to become missionaries. Through his correspondence with Andreas Räss, the director of a seminary in Strasbourg, Dichtl learned that Coadjutor Bishop Francis Kenrick wanted to recruit two German-speaking priests to serve in the Diocese of Philadelphia in the United States. Dichtl sent a letter to Kenrick recommending Neumann and Schmidt for the positions. However, correspondence between Europe and the United States was slow, and Dichtl received no definite response from Kenrick.
Neumann expected Bishop Ernest Růžička of Budweis to ordain him to the priesthood at the end of the academic year in 1835, but he became seriously ill in June. Neumann returned to Budweis from Prague for his canonical examination for the priesthood, which he easily passed. However, the Diocese of Budweis then cancelled all the ordinations of the graduated seminarians because it had no need for more priests. The cancellation was a blow to Neumann as he could not give the traditional first priestly blessing to his parents, nor have his family attend his first Mass.
When Neumann told his family that he was becoming a missionary, they were shocked and saddened; his sisters cried. In his diary, Neumann wrote that the bishop and canons of Budweis "more or less approved" of his plans. Dichtl still intended to send both Schmidt and Neumann to Philadelphia, but did not have the money for ship passage. In addition, the Leopoldine Society was unwilling to fund Schmidt and Neumann without a confirmation letter from Kenrick. Unwilling to wait, Neumann decided to start his trip to the United States anyway.