The Philadelphia Catholic League, August 20, 2015

My first day of school at Archbishop Ryan High School for Boys will always be remembered. I found the enormous size of the school quite intimidating. There were three floors with classrooms, student lockers, and administrative offices interspersed. The large student body filled the corridors in between periods. When the bell rang students had five minutes to be seated in their next class. As a typical freshman who feared being the recipient of a demerit for tardiness, I carried all of my books with me so that I would not have to make a time consuming pit stop at my locker. I quickly realized that this was poor strategy when I dropped all of my books on the floor while trying to read my roster in search of my first period room number. As my fellow classmates paraded over me and my books, I felt the compassionate look of a man looking down at me as though he had witnessed this scene many times before. He was wearing a brown hooded robe that extended almost to the floor. Around his waist was a rope belt that had three knots tied into the excess rope that hung vertically below his waste. Hanging from his belt was a bead of rosaries. This was my first encounter with a Franciscan Friar.

One man travels by canoe to visit a leper colony. Another contemplates the repercussions of freeing his slaves. A third's deeds reach beyond the grave leading to a pathway to sainthood. These are but a few of the men who built - The Philadelphia Catholic League.

Almost one half of the staff at Archbishop Ryan in the 70's consisted of Franciscan Friars from the Order of Friars Minor (O.F.M.). Franciscans belong to a religious order formed in 1209, that adhere to the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi. On the south side of Archbishop Ryan high school is a giant statue of Saint Francis. It was common for members of my graduating class to have our picture taken below this statue on graduation day.

The bell sounded and I knew I was late. I told the priest that I was looking for room 309. The benevolent Father helped me gather my books and pointed to the room across the hall from the floor where I was kneeling. I walked into the room and sat down. Several seconds later that same priest walked in and introduced himself as our Theology I teacher. He would later become the principal of my graduating class.

In that same classroom I could not help but be distracted by the sweet aroma of baked goods that were being produced at the nearby Nabisco baking factory. When the wind blew east, the classrooms were filed with that mouth watering smell. Sadly, today's students will no longer be able to share that experience - the factory is being closed.

One of my most vibrant recollections of my first day was the assembly of my freshman class in the school gymnasium. The incoming class of 600 plus students was given an orientation by the school's principal, Father Noel Wall O.F.M. While I don't recall anything that was said that day, I do remember being mesmerized by the décor of the gym. On the wall above the bleachers where we were seated was a hand painted display of many of the high schools that were in the Philadelphia Catholic League. I quickly learned the name and logo of each of our school's mascots. There was the Archbishop Wood Viking trimmed in black and gold, the red and gold Cardinal Dougherty (you guessed it) Cardinal, as well as the North Catholic Falcon, and Bishop Egan Eagle, and kelly green and yellow Bishop Kendrick Knights. And of course our dreaded rival the Father Judge Crusader. Excusing my bias, what I thought was clearly the nicest image, was presented in the center of the group. It was the red and black Ryan Raider logo.

Since that day I was proud of my familiarity with all of the high school logos and mascot names. However, my knowledge of the esteemed individuals that these schools were named was lacking. I wonder if today's students posses the same ignorance of their schools. Sadly, many of the schools web sites contain very little historical information on their namesake. Below is a description of the remarkable men and the deeds that led to the development of the Philadelphia Catholic League. This group is listed alphabetically by last name with one exception - the best is saved for last.

John Carroll was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop and Archbishop in the United States. He served as the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland. Carroll is also known as the founder of Georgetown University, (the oldest Roman Catholic university in the United States).

His older brother Daniel Carroll II, became one of only five men to sign both the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union" (1778) and the Constitution of the United States (1787). His cousin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the only Catholic signatory. He lived long enough to participate in the industrial revolution, with the ceremonies of the 1828 setting of the "first stone" for the beginning of the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Carroll joined the Society of Jesus (the "Jesuits") as a postulant at the age of 18 in 1753.

In 1776, the Continental Congress asked Father Carroll, along with his cousin, delegate Charles Carroll of Carrollton, fellow Marylander Samuel Chase, and Benjamin Franklin, to travel north to Quebec in the St. Lawrence River valley to try to persuade the French Canadians to join the Revolution with the lower "Thirteen Colonies."

Carroll was excommunicated by Jean-Olivier Briand, the local Quebec bishop, for his political activities. Snubbed by the local clergy on the orders of the Bishop of Quebec, Carroll took an early opportunity to accompany the ailing Franklin back to the colonial capital at Philadelphia.

The Jesuit fathers, led by Carroll and five other priests, began a series of meetings at White Marsh (in eastern Baltimore County) beginning on June 27, 1783. Through these General Chapters, they gradually organized the Roman Catholic Church in the United States on what is now the site of Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, Maryland, (Prince George's County).

Carroll tolerated slavery. He had two black servants-one free and one a slave (the latter was freed from slavery in Carroll's will and bequeathed a generous inheritance). While calling for the humane treatment and religious education of slaves, he never agitated for the abolition of slavery. His view was that gradual emancipation of a plantation's slaves allowed for families to be kept together and for elderly slaves to be provided for.

On November 6, 1789 Pope Pius VI in Rome approved the election, naming Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the newly independent United States.

Born August 16th, 1865 in Ashland Pennsylvania, Dennis Joseph (Dinny) Dougherty served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1918 until his death in 1951; he became a cardinal in 1921. On May 31, 1890 he was ordained into the priesthood. He later became a professor at St. Charles Seminary, where he taught Greek, Latin, French, and Hebrew until 1903. On June 10, 1903, Dougherty was appointed Bishop of Nueva Segovia, in the Philippines, by Pope Leo XIII. Dougherty would also ride on horseback and in canoe to carry out his ministry, which including confirming children, visiting a leper colony, and opening schools and missions. He also convinced President Manuel L. Quezon to renounce Freemasonry for Catholicism.

Pope Benedict XV created him Cardinal-Priest in March 7, 1921, thus making him Philadelphia's first Archbishop to be made a cardinal.

His motto was CRUCIS IN SIGNO VINCES (You Will Conquer Under the Sign of the Cross). He once said, On behalf of American Catholics during World War II, he once stated, "Like our fellow American citizens we will do our utmost to protect our country by winning the war, and ... to that end we place at the disposal of our government everything in our possession.

Dougherty died from a stroke in Philadelphia, at age 85, shortly after celebrating a Mass marking the sixty-first anniversary of his priestly ordination. He is buried in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Born on September 29, 1761 Michael Francis Egan was an Irish American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and was ordained a priest of the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) in 1785. He later became one of the pastors of St. Mary's Church at Philadelphia in April 1803. On April 8, 1808, he was appointed by Pope Pius VII as the first Bishop of Philadelphia, serving from 1808 until his death in 1814.

Egan died at age 53, and was buried at St. Mary's Church. His remains were later transferred in 1869 to the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Father Thomas Augustine Judge was born August 23, 1868 in Boston. Thomas Augustine Judge was ordained a Vincentian priest on May 27,1899, of the Congregation of the Mission, at Saint Charles' Seminary, Overbrook, Pennsylvania. The following day, Trinity Sunday, he said his first Mass in Saint Vincent's Seminary, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Soon after, he was sent to work in Alabama among the immigrant poor.

He pioneered the lay apostolate movement in the United States with the founding of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate (lay missionaries). He also founded two missionary congregations of religious: Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (priests and brothers) and Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity (sisters).

Whenever he was asked to say a few words he would take advantage of the opportunity to talk for thirty or more minutes about the abandoned Christ who hung limp, and taut, and died, upon a tree that would bring forth the truth of life. His conferees testify to his power to sway audiences of both men and women. He was always ready and willing to talk and often would talk twice the time he was allotted.

Father Judge died on November 23, 1933.

Francis Patrick Kenrick was born on December 3rd 1797 in Dublin Ireland who served as the 3rd Archbishop of Philadelphia and sixth archbishop of Baltimore. On February 5th, 1830 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Arath by Pope Pius VIII. In 1832, Kenrick founded St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, which was originally located at his personal residence. That same year an outbreak of cholera took place in Philadelphia, and Kenrick led the local Catholic clergy in ministering to the sick. Kenrick succeeded Bishop Conwell as the third Bishop of Philadelphia upon the latter's death on 22 April 1842. His tenure was particularly marked by the 1844 Philadelphia Nativist Riots, a series of riots resulting from increasing anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants. Throughout the violence, Kenrick encouraged Catholics "to follow peace and have charity." He also closed all Catholic churches and ordered the suspension of all Masses until the riots were brought to a halt by military force. He also began construction on the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Influenced by the work of his contemporary, an English priest named John Lingard, Kenrick published his own translation of the four Gospels in 1849; he eventually translated the entire Bible, as a new revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible.

John Francis O'Hara, (August 1, 1888 - August 28, 1960) was an American Catholic leader. He served as president of the University of Notre Dame (1934-45) and as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1951 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1958. In 1905, his father was named by President Theodore Roosevelt as the U.S. consul to Uruguay. The family then moved to the South American country, where young John studied at the Catholic University of Uruguay in Montevideo and served as private secretary to Edward C. O'Brien, the U.S. Minister.

In 1906, he moved to Argentina and spent six months on a cattle ranch Returning to Uruguay, he conducted market surveys for the U.S. State Department. He furthered his studies, and then accompanied his father after the latter was transferred to Brazil.

Upon his return to the United States in 1908, O'Hara entered the University of Notre Dame, where he also taught Spanish to defray the costs of tuition and board. He also studied at the Wharton School of Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.

O'Hara greatly fostered the practice of daily reception of Communion. He made national headlines when he arranged for two Notre Dame football players, on their way to a game against West Point, to receive Communion in Albany, New York; the team has since had the opportunity to receive Communion on trips away.

O'Hara was appointed the vice president of the University of Notre Dame in 1933, and its president in 1934. O'Hara strongly believed that the Fighting Irish football team could be an effective means to "acquaint the public with the ideals that dominate" Notre Dame. He wrote, "Notre Dame football is a spiritual service because it is played for the honor and glory of God and of his Blessed Mother. When St. Paul said: 'Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all for the glory of God,' he included football."

President Roosevelt later appointed him to the board of visitors of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, becoming the first Catholic bishop to be so honored.

He was named the eighth Bishop of Buffalo on March 10, 1945, and was installed on May 8 of that year. O'Hara greatly expanded Catholic education in the diocese, and eliminated racial segregation in schools and churches.

Differentiating from his predecessors, he often answered his own doorbell, which he explained by saying "How else can I meet the poor." Not overly favorable of radio and television, he suggested that Catholics sacrifice such entertainment for Lent.

O'Hara was promoted to the fifth Archbishop of Philadelphia on November 23, 1951. He died following surgery in Philadelphia, at age 72. He is buried at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Motto: IPSAM SEQUENS NON DEVIAS (Following Her You Will Not Go Astray)

I attended Archbishop Ryan high school for boys from 1974 to 1979 and must confess that I knew very little about the man our school was named after. Patrick John Ryan was born in Thurles, Ireland on February 20, 1831. He served as Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1884 until his death in 1911. Ryan was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Peter Kenrick on September 8, 1853. At age 21, he was below the age requirement for ordination but was granted a dispensation by Pope Pius IX. While on a visit to Europe in 1868, he delivered the English course of Lenten lectures in Rome at the invitation of Pius IX. After the deaf of Archbishop James Frederick Wood, Ryan was named second Archbishop of Philadelphia.

The Archbishop is described as an imposing figure of a man, who to the end, never lost his rollicking humor, look, and bearing of a typical Irishman. His thick, bright red hair had dimmed to a sandier shade. His clear blue eyes betrayed a schoolboy's mischievous streak.

Archbishop Ryan's reputation as an orator spread to bring him invitations to speak not only at ecclesiastical functions, but at many secular occasions as well. Some of the more remarkable engagements were the dedication of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, several funerals of church dignitaries, including that of Archbishop Kenrick of Saint Louis, the Saint Louis Legislature, Saint Louis University, The United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 1900, and the principal speaker at the McKinley Memorial service in Philadelphia after the president's assassination.

During his 27-year-long tenure, Ryan erected 170 churches and 82 schools; increased the number of priests by 322 and nuns 1,545; and oversaw a rise in the Catholic population from 300,000 to 525,000. During that time also the Roman Catholic High School for Boys was built and put into operation. He also established foreign churches in the diocese for the Italians, Poles, Greeks, Slovaks, Lithuanians, and several other nationalities. He founded two congregations for African Americans, and was appointed to the U.S. Indian Commission by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Ryan died at age 79 on February 11, 1911, nine days before his eightieth birthday. He is buried in the crypt below the altar of sacrifice in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

The Most Reverend James Frederick Wood was born April 27, 1813 in Philadelphia. He was the first Archbishop of Philadelphia serving between 1860 and his death in 1883. After attending an elementary school on Dock Street, he was sent abroad to the Crypt School at Gloucester in November 1821. He returned to Philadelphia five years later and then enrolled at a private school on Market Street. In November 1827, he and his family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he became a clerk at the Branch Bank of the United States. After being advanced to individual book-keeper and discount clerk, he was made a paying and receiving teller (1833) and cashier (1836) in the Franklin Bank of Cincinnati.

Wood developed a friendship with Bishop John Baptist Purcell, who later baptized him into the Catholic Church on April 7, 1836. Deciding to enter the priesthood, he resigned as cashier at Franklin Bank in September 1837 and went to Rome for his studies. Wood was ordained a priest by Cardinal Giacomo Filippo Fransoni on March 25, 1844. On January 9, 1857, Wood was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Antigonea by Pope Pius IX. After arriving in Philadelphia, he took charge of the financial affairs of the diocese and established the cathedral parish.

Wood later succeeded Neumann as the fifth Bishop of Philadelphia upon the latter's death on January 5, 1860. In 1865 he purchased a large tract of land in Overbrook, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, for the new St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, the cornerstone of which was laid on April 4, 1866. The seminary was opened in September 1871 with 128 students.

On February 12, 1875, the Diocese of Philadelphia was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese, with Wood becoming its first Metropolitan Archbishop. Since the division of the diocese in 1868, Wood increased the number of churches to 127 and of chapels to 53 chapels, and founded 25 new parochial schools. By 1883, there were also 31 missions, 260 priests, 99 seminarians between St. Charles Seminary and the North American College, three colleges, 22,000 students in parochial schools, six orphanages, four hospitals, two homes for the elderly and over 300,000 Catholics.

Wood later died in Philadelphia, aged 70. He is buried in the crypt beneath Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral.

John Nepomucene Neumann was a native of Bohemia who became fluent in six languages before immigrating to the United States. He is the first American bishop (and thus far the only male citizen) to be canonized. While Bishop of Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States.

In 1836 Neumann traveled to the United States with the hope of being ordained. Neumann arrived in New York with one suit of clothes and one dollar in his pocket. Three weeks later, Bishop John Dubois, ordained him in June 1836 at what is now the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

On 5 February 1852 the Holy See appointed Neumann Bishop of Philadelphia. His predecessor in that office, Francis Kenrick (who had become Archbishop of Baltimore), presided over the consecration on 28 March, and Bishop Dubois assisted.

Bishop Neumann came to the diocese during hard times. Anti-Catholic groups were burning churches in Philadelphia. Nevertheless, Neumann moved forward practically inventing Catholic education as we know it today, he made the 40 Hours Devotion a regular event and wrote the Baltimore Catechism, the book every child uses to prepare for confirmation (Rossi, Frank, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/22/1988).

During Neumann's administration, new parish churches were completed at the rate of nearly one per month. As many immigrants settled in close communities, churches became associated with immigrants from particular regions, and were known as national parishes.

Bishop Neumann became the first bishop in the country to organize a diocesan school system, so that children could be taught in the Catholic tradition. Under his administration, the number of parochial schools in his diocese increased from one to two hundred. Neumann spoke Italian fluently. A growing congregation of Italian-speakers received pastoral care in his private chapel, and Neumann eventually established the first Italian national parishes in the country for them.

The large diocese was not wealthy, and Neumann became known for his personal frugality. He kept and wore only one pair of boots throughout his residence in the United States. When given a new set of vestments as a gift, he would often use them to outfit the newest ordained priest in the diocese.

On 5 January 1860, Bishop Neumann was walking along Vine Street on his way to a post office to mail a chalice to a poor priest when he suffered a stroke. He was dead in three minutes at the age of 48. The Bishop of Philadelphia lay crumpled in the snow a few blocks from his new cathedral on Logan Square. At his own request Bishop Neumann was buried in a basement crypt in Saint Peter's Church where he would be with his Redemptorist confreres.

While most lives end at death, Neumann's was reaching a new beginning. Almost immediately, devoted Catholics began coming to the church and asking Bishop Neumann for special favors. Word was that some of those favors - miracles - were being granted.

Between 1891 and 1900, thousands of Philadelphians died in typhoid and cholera epidemics. But not one parishioner of St. Peter's succumbed, and many believe their safety was seen to by Bishop Neumann. Evidence grew, and in 1921 Pope Benedict XV declared Bishop Neumann's life to be "heroic", the first of many steps in the slow process to sainthood.

Miracles must be documented before an individual can become a saint, and the first of these occurred in 1923 in Sassuolo, Italy. An 11 year old girl beyond medical help was not expected to survive the night. While praying over the girl a nun touched her abdomen with a picture of Bishop Neumann. That night the girl was healed.

The second miracle occurred on July 8, 1949. A young man's skull was crushed in a car accident. Bleeding through his nose, mouth, and ears doctors determined that nothing could be done. His parents touched the young man with a piece of cloth from Bishop Neumann's cassock. Shortly thereafter the man began to recover. Five weeks later he walked out of the hospital unaided. There are others.

In 1963, Bishop Neumann's remains were dressed in priestly robes and placed behind glass in the lower Sanctuary of St. Peter's. That year he was beatified - made blessed. The second-to-last step. In 1977 he was made a saint (Rossi, Frank, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/22/1988).

After his canonization, the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann was constructed at the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Philadelphia. The remains of St. John Neumann lies in a crystal casket beneath the alter table in a chapel shrine at St. Peter's Church. A statue of St. John Neumann overlooks the shrine's entrance.