Benedict Joseph Fenwick
SJ | |
---|---|
Bishop of Boston | |
See | Boston |
Appointed | May 10, 1825 |
Installed | December 21, 1825 |
Term ended | August 11, 1846 |
Predecessor | Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus |
Successor | John Bernard Fitzpatrick |
Orders | |
Ordination | March 12, 1808 by Leonard Neale |
Consecration | November 1, 1825 by Ambrose Maréchal |
Personal details | |
Born | Leonardtown, Maryland, U.S. | September 3, 1782
Died | August 11, 1846 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 63)
Buried | College of the Holy Cross Cemetery |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Alma mater | |
Signature |
Benedict Joseph Fenwick
Born in
Fenwick became the Bishop of Boston in 1825, during a period of rapid growth of the city's Catholic population due to massive
Early life
Benedict Joseph Fenwick was born on September 3, 1782, at Beaverdam Manor in
When Fenwick's family moved from Leonardtown to Georgetown in the District of Columbia, Fenwick was enrolled at Georgetown College in 1793.[2] Intending to enter the priesthood, he began his study of theology in 1801,[1] and proved to be a good student, earning highest academic honors. Upon completing his study of philosophy, he was made a professor at the college,[6] where he taught until 1805.[2]
That year, Fenwick entered
Ministry in New York
In November 1808,
The school grew quickly, enrolling the sons of several prominent Catholic and Protestant families, and its curriculum emphasized the study of Latin, Ancient Greek, and French. However, the Jesuit superior in the United States, Giovanni Antonio Grassi, determined that there were not enough Jesuits in the United States to sustain both Georgetown and the New York Literary Institution.[9] Despite Kohlmann desiring to close Georgetown, Grassi sided with the bulk of Jesuits who were native to Maryland and ordered the New York school closed in 1813,[12] with it officially disbanding in April 1814.[9] Responsibility for the facility was transferred to the Trappist order.[11]
While in New York, Fenwick and Kohlmann were called for by the dying Thomas Paine, to his house in Greenwich Village.[13] Having been unsuccessfully treated by several physicians, Paine sought priests to heal him. They attempted to convince him to renounce a lifetime of writings denouncing Christianity, to which he angrily dismissed them from his house.[14]
Fenwick served alongside Kohlmann as pastor of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral from 1809 to 1815.[15] When Kohlmann was recalled to Maryland in 1815,[12] Fenwick replaced him as pastor of St. Peter's Church and as the diocesan administrator of the Diocese of New York.[16][17] He was successful in prompting hundreds of conversions to Catholicism throughout the diocese during his tenure.[18] Fenwick was present at the formal dedication of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1816.[19] He also drew up designs for the new St. Patrick's Cathedral, the construction of which would be completed after he left New York.[18] The Dominican priest, Charles Ffrench, succeeded Fenwick as pastor of St. Peter's,[16] and John Power would eventually become the next pastor of Old St. Patrick's in 1825.[15] Fenwick became vicar general of the diocese for Bishop John Connelly in 1816,[18] replacing Kohlmann,[16] and remained at the post until April 1817.[8]
Georgetown College and South Carolina
Fenwick became the president of Georgetown College and the pastor of Holy Trinity Church on June 28, 1817,[20] succeeding Grassi at the former,[21] and Francis Neale at the latter.[22] The college's first degrees were conferred during his brief term.[20] Later that year, Ambrose Maréchal, the Archbishop of Baltimore, sent Fenwick to Charleston, South Carolina, where there was a long-standing schism at a local Catholic church.[23] He was replaced at Georgetown by Anthony Kohlmann,[24] and at Holy Trinity by Theodore M. DeTheux.[22]
Fenwick arrived in Charleston in the fall of 1818 as vicar general of the Archdiocese of Baltimore for the city. His mission was to resolve the ecclesiastical dispute,
In May 1822, Fenwick returned to
Bishop of Boston
Fenwick was appointed the second
Though the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the diocese encompassed all of New England, Bishop Fenwick had only two priests under his charge, who served three Catholic churches, besides the cathedral, in all of New England: Saint Augustine's Chapel in Boston, St. Patrick's Church in Newcastle, Maine, and a small church in Claremont, New Hampshire.[34] Throughout New England, there were approximately 10,000 Catholics.[35] Due to significant Irish immigration, the Catholic population in the diocese grew to at least 30,000 by 1833.[36] Fenwick traveled throughout the large territory to manage the diocese and administer the sacrament of confirmation.[37] This included visiting Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes in Maine,[38] who were largely Catholic,[39] and were the subject of intensive proselytism by Protestant evangelists. Fenwick ordered the construction of St. Anne's Church in Old Town, Maine, for them in 1828,[40] and sought to improve their schools.[38]
Fenwick attended the
By the end of Fenwick's episcopate, the number of Catholics in the Diocese of Boston (after the removal of Hartford) had increased to 70,000, in addition to 37 priests, and 44 churches.[45] In December 1845, Fenwick's health began to decline, due to an ailment of the heart. Eight months later, he died on August 11, 1846,[48] at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.[49] After the funeral, his body was carried from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to the train station, from where it was taken to the College of the Holy Cross and buried in the school's cemetery.[50] Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, Massachusetts, which opened in 1959, was named in his honor.[51] The historic Benedict Fenwick School was a public school in Boston that operated from 1912 to 1981.[52]
Educational institutions
One of Fenwick's primary tasks was the creation of Catholic educational institutions in Boston. He established a
By 1830, the establishment of a Catholic college and seminary became Fenwick's highest priority. In April of the following year, he purchased land adjacent to the Boston cathedral, where he planned to open a college, but the project stalled. He desired to have the school run by the Jesuits, but in 1835, they declined his invitation, and his plan for a college was placed on hold.[57]
In the spirit of the ongoing
Therefore, Fenwick instead decided to establish a college in Worcester, Massachusetts, on 60 acres (24 hectares) of land owned by the local priest, James Fitton. Fenwick purchased the land from Fitton in 1842, and named the new school the College of the Holy Cross, in honor of the original Boston cathedral.[59] This property was then supplemented, bringing its total to 96 acres (39 hectares), and in 1843, Fenwick entrusted the new college to a party of Jesuits sent from Georgetown College.[46] That year, construction of the college's first building began,[60] which would later become known as Fenwick Hall.[61]
Catholic media
Fenwick established several Catholic newspapers in the diocese. The first was The Catholic Press, which was founded in 1829 in Hartford, Connecticut, and survived for five years. Another was The Expostulator, which was established in 1830, and was written for young people; this publication survived for only two years. Fenwick's most enduring newspaper was The Jesuit, or Catholic Sentinel, which was founded in Boston in 1829. It later became known as The Pilot, which is today the oldest extant Catholic newspaper in the United States.[62]
He also assisted in editing the Catholic Laity's Directory, which was produced by John Power, the vicar general of New York, in 1822. Fenwick wrote a history of the Diocese of Boston from its founding to 1829, titled "Memoirs to Serve for the Future Ecclesiastical History of the Diocess of Boston," but this was never published during his lifetime. He also directed many historical Catholic books to be reprinted for the diocese.[62]
Anti-Catholicism in New England
A convent of Ursuline nuns, which also conducted a free school for poor girls, was located next to the Boston cathedral.[63] As their facilities were inadequate, Fenwick purchased a new property for the nuns in Charlestown,[64] today located in East Somerville.[65] The purchase was made on July 17, 1826,[64] and the nuns erected a new convent and school there, completing their move in 1828.[63] They named it the Convent and Academy of Mount Benedict, in honor of the bishop.[64] As the nuns' vow of enclosure did not allow them to actively manage the construction of the new facilities, or their expansion in 1829, Fenwick oversaw much of the work.[63] With the change in location came a change in mission; the school began charging tuition, and though it admitted some students for free, it sought to primarily educate the daughters of the elite Protestant residents of Charlestown.[66]
Anti-Catholic sentiment in the city only increased after the convent riots, which caused the Ursuline nuns to flee to Canada.[71] Tensions steadily grew until some feared the outbreak of a religious war.[72] The Charlestown selectmen banned Catholics from being buried in the Catholic cemetery Fenwick established on Bunker Hill.[73] An effigy of Bishop Fenwick was shot with guns in 1835, and threats were made on his life. Widespread violence and destruction occurred during the Broad Street Riot of 1837, and Irish Catholics took up arms as the Montgomery Guards. Another burning of a Catholic church occurred in 1838 in Burlington, Vermont.[72]
Dispute at St. Mary's Church
Fenwick's episcopate involved numerous conflicts both among parishioners over control of their respective churches, and between parishioners and the bishop. Some of these disputes turned violent, and involved calls for leaving the Catholic Church to create new churches.[74]
One such dispute arose at St. Mary's Church in the
None of these efforts was effective in restoring tranquility, and on February 20, 1842, O'Beirne's supporters began a riot during a vespers service over which O'Flaherty presided. The perpetrators were arrested and prosecuted, and Fenwick placed the parish under interdict for two weeks. He then transferred O'Flaherty to Salem, Massachusetts, and removed O'Beirne from Providence. Though O'Flaherty's supporters demanded his return, and organized regular train rides to visit him, the dispute at St. Mary's came to an end.[76]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d Lord 1936, p. 173
- ^ a b c O'Connor 1998, p. 42
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 374
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 375
- ^ O'Daniel 1920, p. 32
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 376
- ^ a b c d Clarke 1872, p. 377
- ^ a b c Lord 1936, p. 174
- ^ a b c d Andreassi 2014, p. 18
- ^ a b c McGucken 2008, p. 72
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 378
- ^ a b McGucken 2008, p. 73
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 379
- ^ Clarke 1872, pp. 383–384
- ^ a b The Catholic Church in the United States of America 1914, p. 304
- ^ a b c The Catholic Church in the United States of America 1914, p. 366
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 385
- ^ a b c Clarke 1872, p. 387
- ^ The Catholic Church in the United States of America 1914, p. 303
- ^ a b Shea 1891, p. 51
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 49
- ^ a b Gillespie, Kevin (December 6, 2015). "From the Pastor's Desk" (PDF). Holy Trinity Catholic Church Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: Holy Trinity Catholic Church. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 53
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 54
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 388
- ^ Furey 1887, p. 185
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 389
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 62
- ^ Curran 1993, p. 98
- ^ Curran 1993, p. 404
- ^ a b c Clarke 1872, p. 390
- ^ Meehan 1907
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 391
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 394
- ^ Lord 1936, p. 175
- ^ a b c Lord 1936, p. 179
- ^ Clarke 1872, pp. 397–398
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 403
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 398
- ^ O'Connor 1998, pp. 47–48
- ^ Clarke 1872, p. 404
- ^ O'Connor 1998, p. 45
- ^ Lord 1936, pp. 179–180
- ^ Patkus 2001, p. 64
- ^ a b Lord 1936, p. 182
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 407
- ^ Patkus 2001, p. 71
- ^ Lord 1936, p. 183
- ^ Hurst, Violet (August 13, 2021). "August marks 175th anniversary of Bishop Fenwick's death". The Pilot. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ O'Connor 1998, p. 75
- ^ "Mission & History". Bishop Fenwick High School. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- ^ National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Benedict Fenwick School 2004, section 8, pp. 5, 8
- ^ a b Clarke 1872, p. 395
- ^ O'Connor 1998, p. 48
- ^ Lester, Thomas (March 16, 2018). "Massachusetts' First Catholic Charitable Institution". The Pilot. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^ O'Connor 1998, p. 49
- ^ a b Kuzniewski 1999, p. 20
- ^ O'Connor 1998, pp. 72–73
- ^ O'Connor 1998, p. 74
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 29
- ^ "Holy Cross: 1843–1899". College of the Holy Cross. Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
- ^ a b Lord 1936, p. 177
- ^ a b c Hamilton 1996, p. 39
- ^ a b c Clarke 1872, p. 396
- ^ a b Lord 1936, p. 180
- ^ Hamilton 1996, p. 40
- ^ a b Hamilton 1996, p. 42
- ^ Tager 2001, p. 109
- ^ Tager 2001, p. 113
- ^ Tager 2001, p. 117
- ^ Lord 1936, pp. 180–181
- ^ a b Lord 1936, p. 181
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 18
- ^ Patkus 2001, p. 69
- ^ Patkus 2001, p. 67
- ^ a b Patkus 2001, p. 68
Sources
- Andreassi, Anthony D. (2014). Teach Me to Be Generous: The First Century of Regis High School in New York City. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 9780823256334. Archivedfrom the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Clarke, Richard H. (1872). "Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Fenwick, D.D.". Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States. Vol. 1. New York: P. O'Shea. pp. 374–413. OCLC 809578529. Retrieved May 28, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
- Curran, Robert Emmett (1993). The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University, 1789–1889. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-0-87840-485-8. Archivedfrom the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Furey, Francis T. (October 1887). "The Charleston, S. C., Schism of 1815–1818". The American Catholic Historical Researches. 4 (2): 184–188. JSTOR 45213255.
- Hamilton, Jeanne (Winter 1996). "The Nunnery as Menace: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834". U.S. Catholic Historian. 14 (1): 35–65. JSTOR 25154540.
- Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (1999). Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843–1994. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-81320-911-1. Archivedfrom the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Lord, Robert H. (July 1936). "The Organizer of the Church in New England: Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick (1782–1846)". The Catholic Historical Review. 22 (2): 172–184. JSTOR 25013478.
- McGucken, William J. (2008) [1st pub. 1932]. The Jesuits and Education. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock. ISBN 978-1-60608-183-9. Archivedfrom the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Meehan, Thomas Francis (1907). "OCLC 1017058.
- "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Benedict Fenwick School" (PDF). National Archives and Records Administration. National Park Service. February 11, 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- O'Connor, Thomas H. (1998). Boston Catholics: A History of the Church and Its People. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-359-0– via Internet Archive.
- O'Daniel, V. F. (1920). The Right Rev. Edward Dominic Fenwick O.P.: Founder of the Dominicans in the United States. Washington, D.C.: The Dominicana. OCLC 918450662. Retrieved January 20, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- Patkus, Ronald D. (Winter 2001). "Conflict in the Church and the City: The Problem of Catholic Parish Government in Boston" (PDF). Historical Journal of Massachusetts. 29 (1): 53–76. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
- from the original on June 1, 2020 – via Google Books.
- Tager, Jack (2001). Boston Riots: Three Centuries of Social Violence. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-461-9. Retrieved November 13, 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Vol. 3. New York: Catholic Editing Company. 1914. OCLC 972339830. Retrieved June 1, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
- OCLC 633322512– via Google Books.
- Sr. Marie of the Visitation Nicknair, O.P. (June 1962). Bishop Benedict J. Fenwick and the Origins of the Benedicta, Maine Community (PDF) (Master of Arts thesis). Boston College. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
External links
- "Bishop Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney.