Pioneer Bishops of Pennsylvania

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Pennsylvania up to 1900.  For more information about Pennsylvania, see my blog of August 13, 2018.

French and Dutch explorers came to what is now Pennsylvania as early as 1615 and the first Catholic priest to visit Pennsylvania is thought to be Father John Pierron who came from Canada in 1673.  European settlement began in 1681, when King Charles II of England paid a debt that he owed to William Penn by granting him the title to what is now the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Penn held convictions about democracy and religious liberty that were not common at the time.  In 1682, the leaders of the new colony wrote the “Frame of Government” which allowed for a Provincial Council and a General Assembly to be elected by the people.  (Catholics were not allowed to hold public office.)  It also allowed religious toleration and freedom of worship for people who believed in one God (which included Christians, Jews, and Muslims, but excluded atheists and pagans).  Queen Anne changed this in 1706 to exclude Jews and Muslims as well. 

Freedom of worship was a right not enjoyed by the few Catholics in the other English Colonies—Maryland Catholics having lost their right to public worship in 1689.  The freedom enjoyed in Pennsylvania allowed Jesuit priests to travel to Pennsylvania from Bohemia Manor, in northeastern Maryland, starting in 1704, to minister to Pennsylvania Catholics.  It also allowed a Jesuit priest, Joseph Greaton, to establish St. Joseph’s Church in Philadelphia in 1733.  The congregation consisted of about three dozen Irish and Germans.  By 1757, there were about 1,300 Catholics in Pennsylvania, mostly living in or near Philadelphia, and who were 70 percent German and 30 percent Irish. Two additional Philadelphia churches were started to minister to new immigrants—St. Mary’s (Irish) in 1763 and Holy Trinity (German) in 1789.

Catholics, mostly Germans, settled in other eastern Pennsylvania towns as well.  Prior to the American Revolution, there were Catholic churches in Lancaster (1741), Bally (1741), Elizabethtown (1752), Reading (1752), and York (1776).  The most important was Conewago Chapel, founded by Father Greaton in 1730.  Jesuits from Conewago ministered to Catholics in western Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  Many of the priests serving the Catholics of Pennsylvania were European, especially English (Father Greaton and Father Robert Molyneux) and German (Father William Wappeler and Father Ferdinand Schneider, also known as Ferdinand Farmer) and most were Jesuits.

The French built Fort Duquesne (site of current day Pittsburgh) in 1754 and built a chapel dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This was likely the first Catholic church in Western Pennsylvania.  The English destroyed Fort Duquesne and the chapel in 1758 and replaced it with Fort Pitt.  But Catholicism gradually returned to Western Pennsylvania.  Priests started to visit scattered Catholic communities in 1785, a Catholic school was established on the site of present-day St. Vincent’s Archabbey in 1787, and a congregation formed in Greensburg in 1789.  Father Demetrius Gallitzin (who was a Russian prince and the second priest ordained in the United States and now a Servant of God) established a church at what is now Loretto (Cambria County) in 1799.  The first parish in Pittsburgh (St. Patrick’s) was established in 1811 and St. Paul’s church was dedicated in 1834.

Since 1789, all of (what was then) the United States had been part of the Diocese of Baltimore.  Pope Pius VII established four new dioceses in 1808, including the Diocese of Philadelphia, which included all of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and parts of New Jersey.  At the time, Philadelphia had a population of over 50,000, of which 10,000 were Catholic.  Pope Gregory XVI created the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1843 at which time Pittsburgh was the largest city in western Pennsylvania with a population of about 20,000.  The Diocese of Erie was established in 1853 and the Dioceses of Harrisburg and Scranton in 1868.  Pope Pius IX created the Province of Philadelphia in 1875 and raised the see of Philadelphia to the status of an Archdiocese.  The Diocese of Allegheny City (now part of the City of Pittsburgh) was established in 1877 but was suppressed in 1889.  The Diocese of Altoona was established in 1901 (it became the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in 1957), the Diocese of Greensburg was created in 1951 and the Diocese of Allentown was established in 1961.

Michael F. Egan was born in Ireland in 1761 and ordained a Franciscan priest in 1785.  He served in Rome and Ireland before coming to Pennsylvania in 1802.  He was appointed the first Bishop of Philadelphia in 1808, but because of war in Europe, Egan was not aware of his appointment until 1810.  His Diocese, which included all of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and part of New Jersey, had about 30,000 Catholics and a dozen priests.  Bishop Egan was noted for his preaching abilities and his ability to speak German and he opened many new churches.  Egan had a long-going dispute with the trustees of St. Mary’s Cathedral (where interestingly enough he had been a popular pastor prior to his appointment as bishop).  Several early Catholic churches were built by the parishioners and in the spirit of the new republic, the parishioners elected trustees to administer the parish.  This was not the usual Catholic model, which was based on a European system of church control by each diocesan bishop.  The trustees of St. Mary’s, however, encouraged by renegade priests, wanted to control the appointment and salary of priests and Bishop Egan could not agree to this.  It was unresolved at the time of his death from tuberculosis in 1814.

Henry Conwell was born in Ireland in 1748 and was ordained a priest in 1776.  Conwell served as a priest in Ireland for four decades.  He was well educated and was fluent in Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian, as well as English.  In 1820, Conwell was serving as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Armagh, Ireland, when the Pope offered him a choice of two appointments:  Madras, India, or Philadelphia.  [Why the Pope would offer a man in his early 70s a choice of two overseas assignments is a good question and for which I do not have an answer.]  Conwell chose Philadelphia because the position had been vacant for 6 years.  As bishop, he continued the fight with the trustees of St. Mary’s Cathedral, but in 1826 signed an agreement that gave them some control over priestly appointments and salaries.  The Vatican was not pleased with the agreement nor with Conwell’s handling of a renegade priest and recalled him to Rome in 1828.  Bishop Conwell was suspended from his duties and control of the Diocese was given to his coadjutor bishop—Francis Kenrick—in 1830.  Conwell, although becoming increasingly senile, continued to perform some of the spiritual duties of Bishop until his death in 1842.

Francis P. Kenrick was born in Ireland in 1797 and ordained a priest in Rome in 1821.  Shortly after his ordination and at the invitation of Bishop Benedict Flaget, Kenrick came to serve the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky.  He taught at the diocesan seminary and earned a reputation as a theologian and scripture scholar.  This allowed him to be an effective homilist and a defender of the Catholic Faith in a state that was predominantly Protestant.

Kenrick was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia and apostolic administrator in 1830 and became the third Bishop of Philadelphia in 1842.  He resolved the problems related to the trustee system that had plagued his two predecessors (by temporarily closing St. Mary’s Cathedral) and took action to prevent further problems.  Bishop Kenrick established St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, a diocesan newspaper, St. Joseph’s Hospital (Pennsylvania’s first Catholic hospital); and initiated construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.  He also established schools at most parishes and encouraged the founding of Villanova and St. Joseph colleges.  He led clergy and nuns in ministering to victims of a cholera outbreak in 1832.  Kenrick was forced to leave Philadelphia for a time in 1844 due to anti-Catholic riots—caused in part by Kenrick’s objection to Catholics being taught Protestant theology in public schools—that resulted in the burning of two Catholic churches.  (The population of the Diocese grew from 35,000 in 1830 to 170,000 in 1850 due primarily to immigration from Europe—which the anti-Catholic Know Nothing party opposed.)  His Diocese initially consisted of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and half of New Jersey.  During his time as Bishop, he increased the number of parishes from 22 to 92.  Kenrick was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore in 1851.  He was greatly troubled by the Civil War and died in July 1863 shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg.  Kenrick’s younger brother, Peter, served as the first Archbishop of St. Louis.

John N. Neumann was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1811 as the third of six children to working class parents.  While attending seminary, Neumann decided to become a missionary in the United States and arrived in New York in 1836.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of New York that same year and was assigned to churches (mostly German) in western New York State.  In 1840, Neumann joined the Redemptorist order—he was the first Redemptorist priest ordained in the United States.  He served in Redemptorist parishes in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and also served as a time for Provincial Superior of the Redemptorists in the United States.

Pope Pius IX appointed Neumann as Bishop of Philadelphia in 1852.  Bishop Neumann’s appointment was favored by Archbishop Kenrick of Baltimore who thought that German-speaking Catholics should have a bishop who spoke German—Neumann spoke at least 6 languages.  Most other U.S. bishops opposed his appointment because they believed he was not qualified.  Neumann was noted for his piety and humility.  He was the first U.S. bishop to organize a diocesan school system and to institute Forty Hours Devotions in his diocese.  Neumann built more than 80 churches (including one for Italians) and made yearly visits to each parish and mission.  He invited religious orders to administer churches and schools, and to assist the poor and needy.  Bishop Neumann died suddenly in 1860 and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1977—the only U.S. bishop so honored.  His feast day is January 5.

James F. Wood was born in Philadelphia in 1813, four years after his Unitarian parents had moved there from England.  His father was a merchant and James and his family moved to Cincinnati in 1827.  Wood was employed in banking at a young age eventually becoming a cashier in 1836.  Wood had developed a friendship with John Purcell, the Catholic Bishop of Cincinnati, and was baptized in 1836.  The following year, he left the bank and entered the seminary.  Wood was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1844.  He served at parishes in Cincinnati until 1857 when he was named coadjutor bishop of Philadelphia.

Wood became Bishop of Philadelphia upon the death of Bishop Neumann in 1860.  He was named the first Archbishop of Philadelphia in 1875. Wood was noted for his knowledge of financial matters, having been a banker.  He moved St. Charles Borromeo Seminary to new facilities in Overbrook and served as treasurer of Rome’s North American College.  Archbishop Wood consecrated the Archdiocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was estimated to have administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to over 100,000 people.  He invited religious orders to work in the Archdiocese and he attended the First Vatican Council in 1870.  When Wood became Bishop in 1870, the Diocese had 200,000 Catholics in eastern Pennsylvania.  At the time of Wood’s death in 1883, the Archdiocese covered only a portion of eastern Pennsylvania and had 300,000 Catholics.

Patrick J. Ryan was born in Ireland in 1831 and attended seminary there.  He came to St. Louis in 1852 and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1853.  Ryan served at several parishes in St. Louis until 1868 when he became vicar general for the Archdiocese.  He was named coadjutor bishop of St. Louis in 1872 and became Archbishop of Philadelphia in 1884. 

Archbishop Ryan established 150 new churches and 82 new schools, including Roman Catholic and Hallahan High Schools in Philadelphia.  He expanded hospitals and other institutions for the needy and started over 80 parishes for new ethnic groups.  His concern for Native Americans and African Americans led him to facilitate the founding of St. Katharine Drexel’s Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.  Ryan promoted Catholic journalism and made the Archdiocesan newspaper one of the nation’s best.  He was known as one of the best preachers of his time and his ability to explain the Faith greatly improved relations with non-Catholics.  Archbishop Ryan spoke at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 1900 and was the principal speaker at President William McKinley’s memorial service in Philadelphia.  Ryan died in 1911.

Michael J. O’Connor was born in Ireland in 1810 and attended seminary in France and Rome before being ordained to the priesthood in 1833.  O’Connor served in Rome and Ireland until 1839 when he became a professor and soon president of the seminary in Philadelphia.  He was appointed vicar general of western Pennsylvania and pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Pittsburgh in 1841.  O’Connor was appointed the first Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1841.

Bishop O’Connor brought several orders of religious priests and nuns to serve in Western Pennsylvania to better serve the growing number of Catholics—the number of Catholics increased from about 25,000 to 50,000 during his time as bishop.  Among these orders were the Benedictines who established St. Vincent’s Abbey and the Franciscans who settled in Loretto.  He also established a seminary and the “Pittsburgh Catholic” diocesan newspaper—the oldest continuously published Catholic newspaper in the United States.  He built many new churches and provided a chapel to African-Americans.  O’Connor spoke six languages and could read three others and had significant impact on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  He resigned as Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1853 to become the first Bishop of Erie, but returned as Bishop of Pittsburgh five months later.  Bishop O’Connor resigned again in 1860 due to poor health and later that year became a Jesuit priest.  He was one of the first faculty members at Boston College and he later became superior of all U.S. Jesuits.  Bishop O’Connor died in 1872 and had a younger brother who served as the first Bishop of Omaha, Nebraska.

Michael Domenec was born in Spain in 1816.  His wealthy parents fled Spain due to a civil war and settled in France.  Domenec eventually became a member of the Vincentian order and came to the Order’s seminary in Perryville, Missouri, around 1838.  He was ordained a priest in 1839.  He initially taught at the seminary before being sent to staff the Vincentian seminary in Philadelphia in 1845.  He also served as pastor of churches in the Philadelphia area.  Domenec was appointed the second Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1860.

Bishop Domenec was a strong advocate of the Union during the Civil War and went to Spain on a mission for the U.S. Government.  Domenec was also noted for his eloquent preaching.  The number of Catholics in the Diocese increased from 50,000 to 200,000 during his time as Bishop and he responded by building 60 new churches and many other buildings and by inviting religious orders to serve in the Diocese.  Bishop Domenec was appointed the first and only Bishop of Allegheny City in 1876.  [Allegheny City is now part of the City of Pittsburgh.  The Diocese of Allegheny City existed from 1877 until 1889 and St. Peter’s Church was the Cathedral for the Diocese.  The decision to create the new Diocese from the Diocese of Pittsburgh, requested by Domenec and approved by the Vatican, was not universally popular in Western Pennsylvania, among either clergy or laity.  Compounding the problem were financial issues, which Bishop Domenec had hoped the division would resolve.]  Bishop Domenec resigned as Bishop of Allegheny City in 1877 and died the following year in Spain.

John Tuigg was born in Ireland in 1820 and was recruited by Bishop O’Connor to come to the United States in 1849.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1850.  He served at parishes in Pittsburgh and as secretary to Bishop Domenec until he was sent to Altoona as Vicar General for the eastern part of the Diocese.  He was appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1876.  Bishop Tuigg was the first priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh to be named its Bishop.  He simultaneously served as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Allegheny City from 1877-1889.  He dealt ably with the division of the two dioceses and with their financial problems, but the stress perhaps contributed to a stroke that he suffered in 1882.  Father Richard Phelan was appointed coadjutor bishop in 1885 and administered both dioceses.  Bishop Tuigg moved to Altoona where he died in 1889.

Richard Phelan was born in Ireland in 1828 as one of nine children—four of whom entered religious life.  He was recruited by Bishop O’Connor to come to the United States in 1850 and he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1854.  He served at parishes in Western Pennsylvania and was appointed pastor of St. Peter’s parish in Allegheny City in 1868.  He built a new church for the parish which became the cathedral of the new Diocese of Allegheny City in 1877.  Because of Bishop Tuigg’s ill health, Phelan was appointed administrator of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allegheny in 1881 and was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1885.  Bishop Phelan, as coadjutor bishop administered both the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Diocese of Allegheny City until he became Bishop of Pittsburgh in 1889, the same year that the Diocese of Allegheny was suppressed by the Pope.  

Bishop Phelan was an able administrator and had strong financial skills.  He built churches and provided pastors for the large number of immigrants who came to Western Pennsylvania to work in the coal, iron, and steel industries.  Priests often became involved in labor disputes because they could speak both English and the language of the immigrant workers.  Bishop Phelan died in 1904.

Josue M. Young was born in Maine in 1808 as one of ten children of Congregationalist parents.  He converted to Catholicism in 1828 after reading books loaned to him by a co-worker.  He went to Cincinnati in 1830 to attend seminary and was ordained for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1838.  He spent time as a missionary in the western United States, became pastor of the parish in Lancaster, Ohio, and attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852 as a theologian.  He was appointed Bishop of Pittsburgh to succeed Bishop O’Connor who had gone to Erie but was reluctant to accept.  As a result, O’Connor was reappointed in Pittsburgh and Young became Bishop of Erie in 1854.

Bishop Young was a convert to Catholicism who spoke fluent German which helped him minister to German immigrants in the Diocese.  He brought in nuns to establish schools, orphanages, and a hospital and built new churches to accommodate settlers who came to the area due to the discovery of oil in 1859.  He traveled frequently around his Diocese at a time when travel was difficult.  He was a strong supporter of the abolitionist cause before the Civil War and of the Union during the Civil War.  He died in 1866, probably from a heart attack. 

Tobias Mullen was born in Ireland in 1818, the youngest of six sons.  He began studies for the priesthood in Ireland and was recruited by Bishop O’Connor to come to the United States in 1843.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh the following year.  Initially assigned to the cathedral in Pittsburgh, Mullen later served at other western Pennsylvania parishes and became vicar general for the Diocese in 1864.  He was appointed Bishop of Erie in 1868.

The Catholic population of the Diocese quadrupled during Mullen’s time as Bishop because of new immigrants.  Bishop Mullen was able to expand diocesan institutions, including parishes, schools, and hospitals, despite the poverty of the people.  Mullen ordained many priests, established a weekly Catholic newspaper, and began construction of St. Peter Cathedral in Erie in 1873.  He suffered a stroke in 1898 while celebrating Mass.  Bishop Mullen retired in 1899 and died in 1900.  

John E. Fitzmaurice was born in Ireland in 1839 (or 1837) and came to Philadelphia in 1858 to enter the seminary.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1862.  Fitzmaurice served at parishes in Philadelphia until being named rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia in 1886.  He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Erie in 1897 and became Bishop of Erie in 1899 upon the retirement of Bishop Mullen.

Bishop Fitzmaurice completed construction of St. Peter Cathedral in 1911 and built new parishes for immigrants from southern and eastern Europe.  He also established several diocesan institutions, including a training school for Boys and a hospital in DuBois and also appointed the first diocesan superintendent of schools.  Bishop Fitzmaurice was a noted homilist.  Fitzmaurice had poor vision all his life and was blind the last few years before his death in 1920.  Fitzmaurice’s nephew, Edmond, later became Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware.

Jeremiah F. Shanahan was born in Silver Lake, Pennsylvania, in 1834.  His parents were both born in Ireland, and he was educated in Binghamton, New York, before entering seminary in Philadelphia.  Shanahan was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1859.  He served at the cathedral in Philadelphia and later as rector of the diocesan preparatory seminary.  Shanahan was appointed the first Bishop of Harrisburg in 1868.

Bishop Shanahan’s Diocese covered 10,000 square miles and had about 25,000 Catholics in 40 churches served by two dozen priests.  Bishop Shanahan established a seminary to train new priests and opened several new parish schools to educate immigrant children and to teach them the Catholic Faith.  He did this by inviting several orders of religious sisters to run the schools.  He also convinced wealthier parishes in Philadelphia to help the churches in the Harrisburg diocese reduce their debts.  He also built new churches.  Shanahan attended the first Vatican Council in Rome and the Third Plenary Council in Baltimore.  He died in 1886.

Thomas McGovern born in Ireland in 1832 and came with his family to Pennsylvania the following year.  He was educated at Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland and at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.  McGovern was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1861.  He served at several parishes in the Diocese and was pastor of churches in Bellefonte, York, and Danville.  He traveled overseas from 1881 to 1882 hoping to regain his health.  McGovern was appointed Bishop of Harrisburg in 1887.  Bishop McGovern established several “national” parishes to meet the liturgical needs of various immigrant groups.  He died in 1898.

John W. Shanahan was born in 1846 in Silver Lake, Pennsylvania as a younger brother of Jeremiah Shanahan.  He attended seminary in Philadelphia and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1869.  He served as superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese prior to being appointed Bishop of Harrisburg in 1899.

Bishop Shanahan built the current St. Patrick’s Cathedral and established 27 new parishes, including some for specific immigrant ethnic groups.  He also established homes for orphaned and needy children—immigrant workers in the coal, steel, and railroad industries often died young and left destitute families behind.  He established the Sisters of Saint Casimir so that the nuns could open the first Lithuanian Catholic school in the United States.  Bishop Shanahan died in 1916.

William O’Hara was born in Ireland in 1816 and came with his parents to Philadelphia in 1820.  After graduating from what is now Georgetown University, he attended seminary in Rome.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1842.  He was assigned to St. Patrick’s parish in Philadelphia as an assistant pastor although he also helped served other parishes as well.  He became rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia in 1853 and was promoted to pastor at St. Patrick’s in 1856 while still serving at the seminary.  O’Hara became vicar general of the Diocese in 1860 while remaining at St. Patrick’s.  He was appointed the first Bishop of Scranton in 1868.  During his over 30 years as Bishop, O’Hara quadrupled the number of parishes from 47 to 78 and the number of priests from 25 to 130.  He built many schools, an orphanage, a hospital, and he helped establish the University of Scranton in 1888.  He died in 1899.

Michael J. Hoban was born in New Jersey in 1853 to Irish immigrant parents.  The family moved to Hawley, Pennsylvania, when Hoban was a child.  Educated in New York and Massachusetts, he dropped out of school in 1871 after his father died.  He helped his mother with the family business and in 1874 began his seminary training, first in Philadelphia and later in Rome.  Hoban was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Scranton 1880 and served in parishes in Towanda, Pittston, Troy, and Ashley.  He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Scranton in 1896—he was in charge of the Diocese due to Bishop O’Hara’s failing health.  He became Bishop in 1899 upon the death of O’Hara.

Hoban was faced with a crisis soon after becoming administrator of the Diocese.  A group of Polish-speaking Catholics in Scranton were dissatisfied with their German pastor and broke away from their parish.  A Polish priest agreed to lead them and this group eventually when into schism with the Roman Catholic Church to form the Polish National Catholic Church.  Hoban tried but was unable to prevent this.  He sought to meet the needs of the large numbers of immigrants in the Diocese by doubling the number of parishes and parish schools and by building hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly, and three colleges.  He arbitrated labor disputes involving mining companies and miners in the anthracite coal mines of the area and hosted a meeting between President Theodore Roosevelt and John Mitchell, the leader of the United Mine Workers.  He died in 1926.