Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 24, 2022
Francis Neale (1756–1837) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. He played a substantial role in the Jesuit order's restoration in the US. Born in Maryland, Neale was educated and ordained a priest at the Colleges of Bruges and Liège. When he returned to the US in 1788, he became the pastor at St. Thomas Manor, where he opposed Bishop John Carroll's founding of Georgetown College. In 1790, Neale oversaw the establishment of Holy Trinity, the first Catholic church in Washington, D.C. He established the Church of St. Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, and became the president of Georgetown College in 1809. The number of students declined dramatically due to his implementation of strict monastic discipline. Neale joined the Jesuit order when it was restored in 1806. He became the novice master at Georgetown and treasurer of the Jesuits' Maryland mission. He spent his later years as the spiritual director to the nuns at the Georgetown Visitation Monastery. (Full article...)