Leonard Neale

infobox bishopbiog
name = Leonard Neale, S.J. †


See = Archdiocese of Baltimore
Title = Archbishop of Baltimore
Period = December 3, 1815—June 18, 1817
Predecessor = John Carroll †
Successor = Ambrose Maréchal †
ordination = June 5, 1773
date of birth = October 15, 1746
place of birth = Port Tobacco, Maryland
date of death = June 18, 1817
place of death = Baltimore, Maryland |

infobox bishopstyles
name=Leonard Neale
dipstyle=The Most Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Monsignor
deathstyle=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.

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. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10728d.htm Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X, Robert Appleton Company, 1911] ]

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 [http://www.potomacheritage.org/pathfind/tmano.asp 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 ["Information", "Was Washington a Catholic?, Doran Hurley, January-February 1957, Vol. 71, pages 2-6.] and slave [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.] tradition Father Neale baptized George Washington on his deathbed, however, eyewitness accounts make no mention of such an event. [cite web
url = http://www.fathom.com/course/10701018/session4.html
title = George Washington and the Legacy of Character: He Died as He Lived
publisher = Fathom.com (on-line archive from Columbia University)
quote = 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.
accessdate = 2008-03-29 ]

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.

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) [http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/fl/f119%7D13.htm Georgetown University Archives] ] .

His other brother, Charles Neale ( - 1823), was the leader of the Jesuit Mission in America by the time he died.

References

External links

* [http://www.archbalt.org/our-history/ordinaries-detail.cfm?customel_datapageid_999=2196 Archdiocese of Baltimore Page About Leonard Neale, S.J.]