Leonard Neale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Senior posting | |
|---|---|
| See | Archdiocese of Baltimore |
| Title | Archbishop of Baltimore |
| Period in office | December 3, 1815—June 18, 1817 |
| Predecessor | John Carroll † |
| Successor | Ambrose Maréchal † |
| Religious career | |
| Priestly ordination | June 5, 1773 |
| Personal | |
| Date of birth | October 15, 1746 |
| Place of birth | Port Tobacco, Maryland |
| Date of death | June 18, 1817 |
| Place of death | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Styles of Leonard Neale |
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| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | none |
Leonard Neale, S.J. (October 15, 1746 — June 18, 1817) became, in 1800, the first Roman Catholic bishop ordained in the United States, and the second Archbishop of Baltimore. He devoted considerable time to the establishment of the Visitation Sisters, and also served as president of Georgetown College.
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[edit] Early life and ministry
Leonard Neale was born in Port Tobacco, Maryland on October 15, 1746 to William and Anne (Brooke) Neale. He was educated in the College of Saint Omer, France, and later at Bruges and Liège, Belgium.[1]
He became a member of the Society of Jesus, and after his ordination on June 5, 1777 he taught in colleges and officiated as pastor in different places in Europe. Father Neale was teaching in the Jesuit college of Bruges when that institution was seized by the Austro-Belgian government, and along with the other Jesuits was expelled. He moved to England, where he had charge of a small congregation, but after several years he sailed in 1779 for Demerara, where he worked zealously among the natives and settlers. At length his health was almost ruined by the inclemency of the climate and the severity of his labors. He left Demerara in January, 1783, and after a dangerous voyage, in which he fell into the hands of British cruisers, he reached the United States in April 1783.
In June of 1783 he attended a meeting of the clergy of Maryland at Whitemarsh and took an active part in its deliberations. He was stationed at St. Thomas's Manor among his relatives until 1793. He then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and tended to victims of a yellow fever epidemic, even though his own health was in a delicate state. He was vigilant in his attentions to the sick and dying, and on the reappearance of yellow-fever in 1797 and 1798 he resumed his former exertions until he was stricken by the disease. While he was in Philadelphia he was appointed vicar-general for the northern states.
According to Jesuit[2]and slave[3] tradition Father Neale baptized George Washington on his deathbed, however, eyewitness accounts make no mention of such an event.[4]
[edit] President of Georgetown
In 1798 Bishop Carroll called Father Neale from Philadelphia to succeed Rev. Dr. Dubourg in the presidency of the college at Georgetown. He acted in the dual capacity of president and tutor for several years and under his guidance the institution was developed from an academy into a college in 1801.
In 1799, Neale founded the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, under the direction of the Sisters of the Visitation. Both the school and the convent are still vibrant more than 200 years later in the heart of Washington, DC.
The venerable Bishop Carroll had some time previous to this applied to Rome to name Father Neale as his co-adjutor bishop. Neal was consecrated a bishop by Bishop Carroll in 1800, but remained as President of Georgetown College until 1806
In 1809, his brother, Francis Neale, became president of Georgetown College.
[edit] Archbishop of Baltimore
Neale succeeded John Carroll as archbishop of Baltimore on December 3, 1815 and served until his death on June 18, 1817. As archbishop, he presided St. Mary's Catholic church's operations and decided upon his decision that appointed French priest Joseph Clorivière was to serve at St. Mary's Catholic. This wasn't welcomed by Irishman John O'Raw and this nominee refusal was met with the Charleston schism (1815-1819)[5].
His other brother, Charles Neale ( - 1823), was the leader of the Jesuit Mission in America by the time he died.
[edit] References
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X, Robert Appleton Company, 1911
- ^ Information, "Was Washington a Catholic?, Doran Hurley, January-February 1957, Vol. 71, pages 2-6.
- ^ quote = "These were not Catholic Negroes; it is part of the tradition that weeping and wailing occurred in the quarters that Massa Washington had been snared by the Scarlet Woman of Rome, whom they had been taught to fear and hate." | Slaves Held Washington Died Baptized Catholic, National Catholic Register, February 27, 1957, page 11.
- ^ George Washington and the Legacy of Character: He Died as He Lived. Fathom.com (on-line archive from Columbia University). Retrieved on 2008-03-29. “According to the extant record of Washington's final hours, there was no reference to any religious words or prayers, no request for forgiveness, no fear of divine judgment, no call for a minister (although ample time existed to call one if desired), no deathbed farewell, no promise or hope of meeting again in heaven.”
- ^ Georgetown University Archives
[edit] External links
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Most Rev. Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg, S.S. #3 |
President of Georgetown University 1798-1806 #4 |
Succeeded by Robert Molyneux, S.J. #5 |
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by John Carroll |
Archbishop of Baltimore 1815 – 1817 |
Succeeded by Ambrose Maréchal |
