Obama to give Neumann artifact to Benedict
When President Barack Obama meets on Friday with Pope Benedict XVI, he’ll present the pontiff with a gift that has a Baltimore connection.
The Redemptorists have given Obama a stole that was used to dress the body of St. John Neumann. The 19th-century priest was pastor of Baltimore's St. Alphonsus Church from 1849 to 1852.
It was during his time in the city that the Bohemia-born Neumann was naturalized a U.S. citizen. He would leave Baltimore to serve as bishop of Philadelphia, a position he held until his death in 1860. He is a patron saint of immigrants and sick children.
“It’s a delight that something of one of our Redemptorist saints would be given to our Holy Father,” the Rev. Patrick Woods, provincial of the Baltimore Province, said in a statement. “We’re delighted as Americans that our president is visiting the Holy Father, and delighted that something belonging to our province would be given to him.”
