United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

20 HOLY ORDERS THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS IS AT THE SERVICE OF THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH —CCC, NOS. 1533-1600 A SAINTLY BISHOP AND A HOLY PRIEST In just eight years as bishop of Philadelphia (1852 1860), John Nepomucene Neumann increased the number of parochial schools from two to nearly one hundred. He oversaw the building of fifty new churches and founded a preparatory seminary. To staff the schools, he enlisted the aid of a number of religious congregations. He was the first bishop in the United States to encourage the Forty Hours Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He wrote two catechisms, a Bible history, and a number of pastoral letters. He preached frequently, heard confessions, went on sick calls, and followed an extensive schedule for the Sacrament of Confirmation. He could speak eight languages and several Slavic dialects, a gift he used to bring Christ and the Church to the multi-ethnic members of his diocese. He even learned Gaelic so he could minister to the immigrants from west ern Ireland who were escaping the potato famine. Born in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in 1811, John Neumann studied at the seminary at Budweis and the University of Prague. He grad uated with honors from the university in 1835, at the age of twenty-four. While he was at the seminary, he acquired an interest in the United States. After his graduation, he emigrated to New York, where Bishop John Dubois accepted him for ordination to the priesthood in 1836. He was then sent to the missions of upper and western New York State. Four years later, he entered the Redemptorist Order. In 1847 he became a citizen of the United States. He became the superior of the Redemptorist