León, Guanajuato.- What saint is celebrated today on January 5? The Catholic religion celebrates Juan Nepomuceno Neumann who was born in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, in 1811. He attended school at Budweis and then entered the seminary in 1831.
When he completed his preparation to be ordained a priest, the local bishop fell ill and priestly ordinations in his jurisdiction were suspended. The young man decided to write to some bishops from other dioceses, but none wanted to accept him.
This was not an obstacle for him, the saint was not discouraged, he learned English and worked in a factory and made contact with bishops in the United States. Juan had a missionary soul and was willing to move to America.
Then his requests bore fruit, the Archbishop of New York agreed to receive and ordain him. So John left his family and friends to embark and take the word of Christ to a new land.. Juan joined the limited group of 36 priests who had to assist the almost 200,000 Catholics residing in the United States.
Neumann was entrusted with the administration of a parish. The first pastoral difficulty he faced had to do with the vast territory entrusted to him: his parish stretched from Ontario (Canada) to Pennsylvania (USA).
Fr. Neumann spent most of his time visiting villages, crossing inhospitable territories, walking among high mountains with the objective of caring for his flock, being able to assist the sick, teach catechism, administer the sacraments and celebrate the Eucharist.
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As an apostle, Neumann understood his parishioners, most of them European immigrants. He came to speak up to six languages, it was not difficult for him to address Catholics who did not speak English sufficiently.
In 1847, he was appointed Visitor of the Redemptorists in the United States.. Then he formed a “religious province or province” autonomous, which materialized in 1850.
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