About John Neumann
John Nepomucene Neumann (German: Johann Nepomuk Neumann, Czech: Jan Nepomucký Neumann, Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus Neumann; March 28, 1811 – January 5, 1860) was a Bohemian-born American Catholic prelate who served as the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia from 1852 to 1860. An immigrant from Bohemia, he came to the United States in 1836, where he was ordained, joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and became the bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. In Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the United States. Canonized in 1977, he is the only male American citizen to be named a saint. In Philadelphia, Neumann founded the first Catholic diocesan school system in the US. Neumann was disappointed with the course's slow pace in his first years and thought he might easily have been able to advance to the third year, but this was not allowed. The pace now became too fast for many students, and about twenty of Neumann's classmates dropped out, but he persevered and passed the examination that year with a fair average, as he had the two previous years.
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