NEUMANN, SAINT JOHN (NEPOMUCENE)

born March 28, 1811, Prachatice, Bohemia [now in Czech Republic] died Jan. 5, 1860, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.; canonized 1977; feast day January 5 bishop of Philadelphia, a leader in the Roman Catholic parochial-school system in the United States. After studies at the University of Prague, Neumann's interest in missions in the United States took him to New York, where he was ordained in 1836. In 1840 he joined the Redemptorists, a religious congregation dedicated to parish and foreign missions, and later became superior of all Redemptorists in the United States. In 1852 Pope Pius IX named him bishop of Philadelphia. Neumann spent the rest of his life building churches, schools, and asylums for his diocese. He was devoted to education and was the first ecclesiastic to organize a diocesan school system in the United States. Neumann was canonized as the first American male saint in 1977.