Editor’s note: This is the seventh of several historical articles that were published in the April 16 issue of the AD Times in a special section for the 65th Anniversary of the Diocese of Allentown. To see the special section, click on AD Times at the top of AD Today, then Editions at right, then 04/16/26.
St. John Neumann, a man of small physical stature but immense faith, rode on horseback throughout the rural roads of what would become the Diocese of Allentown more than a century and a half ago – ministering and offering the Sacraments – yet his footsteps remain in the heart of the 65-year-old Diocese today.
The future saint was born March 28, 1811 in Prachatitz (Prachatice), Bohemia, Austrian Empire, which is part of the modern-day Czech Republic. But when his bishop put a hold on ordinations because Bohemia had a high number of priests, St. John Neumann journeyed to America to pursue his vocation.
This Redemptorist missionary to the United States became the Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia (1852-60) and the first American bishop – and male citizen – to be canonized. He was naturalized as a citizen of the United States in Baltimore, Md. on Feb. 10, 1848.
He was ordained June 1836 by Bishop John Dubois at old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, N.Y. Yearning for community living experiences, St. John Neumann was granted permission to become a Redemptorist priest in 1842 – the first Redemptorist to profess his vows in the United States. In March 1852 he was consecrated in Baltimore as Bishop of Philadelphia.
St. John Neumann was the first bishop in the United States to organize a Catholic diocesan school system. He approved the organization of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and helped a number of other religious congregations, and was devoted to promoting Eucharistic Adoration.
He faced opposition to his efforts to expand the Catholic Church in Philadelphia. The anti-Catholic political party “The Know Nothings” was at the height of its activities, setting fire to convents and schools.
The discouraged bishop wrote to Rome asking to be replaced, but Pope Pius IX insisted that Bishop Neumann continue as Bishop.
In 1852, Bishop Neumann tried again, this time proposing to the Eighth Provincial Council in Baltimore that the Diocese of Philadelphia be split and a new diocese be created with its see city in Pottsville. Bishop Neumann proposed that he become the bishop of Pottsville. The Vatican rejected his proposal.
On Dec. 8, 1854, St. John Neumann was present in Rome when Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The three counties that comprise the Delaware portion of what is now the Diocese of Wilmington, Del. were part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia when the future saint was Bishop of Philadelphia. The Diocese of Wilmington – which encompasses all of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore – was founded in 1868.
On Jan. 5, 1860, St. John Neumann, 48, collapsed due to a stroke and died on a snowy Philadelphia street while running errands.
Pope Benedict XV declared him “Venerable” in 1921. He was beatified by Pope Paul VI on Oct. 13, 1963, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on June 19, 1977.
St. John Neumann established 11 parishes in what is now the Diocese of Allentown, and for that reason Bishop McShea led a diocesan pilgrimage to his canonization. The pilgrimage was large, approximately 275 strong. Bishop McShea was chosen as one of the concelebrants of the canonization Mass.
His major shrine is the National Shrine of St. John Neumann, Philadelphia, where his remains rest under the altar in a glass-walled reliquary. His feast day is Jan. 5, but the Bohemians mark his feast day on March 5.
Parishes founded by St. John Neumann in the Diocese of Allentown:
- St. Joseph, Easton, 1852 (merged into Our Lady of Mercy, Easton).
- St. Boniface, St. Clair, 1853 (merged into St. Clare of Assisi, St. Clair).
- St. Mary, Hamburg, 1854.
- Immaculate Conception, Tremont, 1854 (merged into Most Blessed Trinity, Tremont).
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Minersville, 1855 (merged into Holy Family, Minersville).
- St. Mauritius, Ashland, 1856 (merged into St. Charles Borromeo, Ashland).
- St. Joseph, Ashland, 1856 (merged into St. Charles Borromeo, Ashland).
- Immaculate Conception BVM, Allentown, 1857.
- Annunciation BVM (St. Mary’s), Catasauqua, 1857.
- St. Kieran, Heckscherville, 1858 (merged into Holy Family, Minersville).
- St. Lawrence the Martyr, Catasauqua, 1858 (merged into St. John Fisher, Catasauqua).
Header Photo: Bishop Joseph McShea, fifth from left, on the diocesan pilgrimage to Rome for the canonization of St. John Neumann, at Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Basilica of St. Mary of Minerva), with from left, Bishop David Thompson, Monsignor James Reichert, Monsignor Joseph Smith, Cardinal Dino Staffa, Monsignor James Treston, and Monsignor Dennis Hartgen.
Below: St. John Neumann.
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