1. Robert P Molyneux was an English-American Catholic priest and Jesuit missionary to the United States.
24 Facts About Robert Molyneux
1. 2.
Robert Molyneux became the pastor of both Old St Joseph's Church and Old St Mary's Church, where he served for 16 years.
3.
Robert Molyneux's pastorate encompassed the American Revolutionary War, and though he did not expressly commit himself to either belligerent, he largely endorsed the American cause.
4.
Robert Molyneux remained superior for the rest of his life, and saw the establishment of a novitiate at Georgetown, where he became president again in 1806.
5.
Robert Molyneux then enrolled at the College of St Omer in France, and continued with the school when it relocated to Bruges, Belgium.
6.
Robert Molyneux became a master there in 1764, and had as one of his students John Carroll, the future Archbishop of Baltimore.
7.
Robert Molyneux arrived in Maryland in 1771, where he worked in the Jesuits' Maryland Mission.
8.
Robert Molyneux had as his assistant Ferdinand Farmer, who ministered primarily to the German parishioners, traveling as far as New York to do so.
9.
Four members of the Continental Congress, including George Washington and John Adams, visited Old St Joseph's during the war, and Robert Molyneux celebrated the requiem masses for a French officer who drowned in the Schuylkill River and the Spanish ambassador.
10.
Robert Molyneux presided over the funeral of the Spaniard Juan de Miralles.
11.
Robert Molyneux celebrated masses to mark the anniversary of American Independence, beginning in 1779.
12.
Robert Molyneux took the oath of allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania, and in 1783, signed a petition to have Congress return to Philadelphia.
13.
In 1782, Robert Molyneux established the first parochial school in the United States, which would later go on to become St Mary's Interparochial School.
14.
Robert Molyneux supported the establishment of a Catholic episcopal hierarchy in the United States, so that it would be separate from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the English bishops.
15.
Robert Molyneux then joined others in writing to Rome to request the elevation of the apostolic prefecture to the rank of diocese and the installation of an American bishop.
16.
Robert Molyneux Molyneux tutored Anne-Cesar de La Luzerne, the French minister plenipotentiary to the United States, in English.
17.
From 1786 to 1788, Robert Molyneux served as a trustee of the University of the State of Pennsylvania by virtue of being the most senior Catholic cleric in Philadelphia.
18.
Robert Molyneux became a member of the American Philosophical Society.
19.
Robert Molyneux then left Philadelphia for the Jesuits' Maryland missions, first going to Bohemia Manor.
20.
Robert Molyneux immediately undertook a project to expand the college, purchasing two acres of land, located to the north of the original Old South building.
21.
Robert Molyneux saw that progress continued on Old North, which, though structurally complete, remained unfinished in the interior; only its third floor was able to be used.
22.
Robert Molyneux resigned the presidency, and shortly thereafter, died at Georgetown College on December 9,1808.
23.
Robert Molyneux had appointed Charles Neale to succeed him as superior of the Jesuits; Francis Neale became acting president of the college until William Matthews' appointment.
24.
Robert Molyneux is buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery at the college.