{"id":317909,"date":"2026-10-30T22:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T22:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/317909\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T22:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T22:32:08","slug":"new-statue-of-st-john-neumann-installed-at-namesake-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/317909\/","title":{"rendered":"New Statue of St. John Neumann Installed at Namesake High School"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted October 30, 2026 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s certain that neither St. John Neumann nor St. Maria Goretti stood even six feet tall, but an eight-foot-tall likeness of Philadelphia\u2019s saintly bishop who started the Catholic school system in the United States has joined his saintly counterpart at the archdiocesan school that bears their name.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Nelson J. P\u00e9rez blessed the new statue of St. John Neumann Tuesday evening, Oct. 27 in the new memorial prayer garden outside SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School, which faces Moore Street alongside South 10th Street in South Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The new statue stands by one of St. Maria Goretti that has been a landmark for decades in the East Passyunk neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The Millay Club<\/a>, the alumni group of Neumann Goretti High School and its predecessor Catholic high schools, raised the money to create the statue through a pair of anonymous donors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very commanding sight, especially at night when it\u2019s all illuminated with a big spotlight, and we can\u2019t be more proud of it,\u201d said Millay Club Board Member Patricia Coggins \u201968.<\/p>\n

The statue stands at the school near fundraising bricks with the names of many alumni and supporters, through the Millay Club\u2019s Buy-a-Brick campaign.<\/a><\/p>\n

The statue itself represents a link for alumni of Southeast Catholic High School, which began in 1934 at the corner of South Seventh and Christian streets; Bishop John Neumann High School which moved to South 26th and Moore streets in 1957; and St. John Neumann High School in 1977 which adopted its name following Neumann\u2019s canonization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a gentleman saying how beautiful it was. He was a graduate of Bishop Neumann (in) 1964,\u201d Coggins said. \u201cHe\u2019s in the neighborhood, and he loves seeing the statue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Archbishop Nelson J. P\u00e9rez stands before the newly installed statue of St. John Neumann and the existing statue of St. Maria Goretti during an Oct. 27 ceremony at SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in South Philadelphia. (Photo by Sarah Webb)<\/p>\n

Neumann for boys and Goretti for girls combined into one high school in 2004 at the South 10th and Moore location which has stood since 1955<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the men feel that when they see the St. John Neumann statue, they feel that this is their school now,\u201d said Linda Crusco \u201971, the president of the Millay Club Board of Directors. \u201cBy seeing the St. John Neumann statue, I (hope) they feel that now we are one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiration for the brick campaign and the subsequent statue, according to Coggins, came from both the nearby Epiphany of Our Lord Parish at South 11th and Jackson streets, and a moment at a stop sign at the corner of South Third Street and Snyder Avenue.<\/p>\n

Coggins recalled how Father James Casey, pastor of her home parish of Epiphany, had created a memorial garden in front of the rectory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI happened to look to the left and saw the Woodland String Band (building) with all the bricks on their wall, and I thought, \u2018Maybe this would be a good idea for us because we have all this space,\u2019\u201d Coggins said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a process. It\u2019s been a little over a year, but it finally came to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unveiling of St. John Neumann\u2019s statue comes at a major milestones for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The 2026-27 academic year represents the 175th anniversary since the saintly fourth bishop of Philadelphia founded Philadelphia\u2019s Catholic school system<\/a> in 1852. Next year also presents the 50th anniversary of his canonization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I speak for all of us (that) the statue represents the height of his goodness and holiness,\u201d said Millay Club Board Member Elizabeth Ridolfo Farley \u201967. \u201cI am just overwhelmed by the beauty of these two statues being finally joined together.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that she felt for Bishop Neumann and St. John Neumann high school graduates who gave up their school location when their school and St. Maria Goretti High School merged in 2004.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the school did not have St. John Neumann represented prior to now (and) that St. John Neumann is now there standing where he rightfully belongs, my heart overflows with happiness to see them both together,\u201d Farley said.<\/p>\n

Watching this process happen has made Neumann Goretti President Tim Cairy pause to recognize the fierce loyalty the alumni at the Millay Club have for keeping Neumann Goretti High School thriving.<\/p>\n

He believes the statue\u2019s installation teaches a lesson to the school\u2019s current students and far beyond about the importance of making a difference in one\u2019s community, particularly when it is centered in their Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this inspires future generations to give back (to) their community,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully it inspires our students, our faculty, the South Philadelphia community to see the generosity, the seed of hard work. (These) are volunteers These aren\u2019t people who are paid to do this giving back to something they love and care for. That\u2019s the most important thing, (that) we give back in a sense of service to the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eileen Kelly-Kazelskis \u201967, a board member of the Millay Club, believes the new statue of St. John Neumann will help cement the school\u2019s permanence in South Philly as a beloved anchor of the Catholic faith in that section of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the only Catholic high school in South Philadelphia,\u201d she said, \u201cand I almost feel like the two statues coming together now (are) saying, \u2018We\u2019re here to stay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The illuminated statues of St. John Neumann and St. Maria Goretti stand together outside SS. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School in South Philadelphia. (Photo by Sarah Webb)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jay Sorgi \u2022 Posted October 30, 2026 It\u2019s certain that neither St. John Neumann nor St. Maria…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[21628,8364,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-317909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-aops","tag-jay-sorgi","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}