"E" is for England, John [1786-1842]

"E" is for England, John [1786-1842]. Catholic Bishop. Educator. Born in Ireland, England was ordained in 1808. In 1820 Pope Pius VII appointed him the first bishop of the Diocese of Charleston—encompassing the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. He traveled repeatedly to all corners of his huge diocese, established parishes and recruited priests. He was one of the first Irish-American bishops and became an important leader of the Irish community nationwide. In 1822, he founded the first regularly published American Catholic newspaper, the United States Catholic Miscellany. His modern views on education and free expression—and his experience of British persecution of Irish Catholics—led him to embrace American democracy. John England was the first important American Catholic theoretician of freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.