William Francis Clarke (March 19, 1816 – October 17, 1890) was an American

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest and

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

who held several senior positions at Jesuit institutions in

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and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Born in Washington, he descended from several early colonial families of Maryland. He was educated at

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Irela ...

and its successor institutions during the

suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Jesuits was the removal of all members of the Society of Jesus from most of the countries of Western Europe and their colonies beginning in 1759, and the abolishment of the order by the Holy See in 1773. The Jesuits were ...

, followed by

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

. After his entrance into the Jesuit order, he taught for several years at Georgetown, and became the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in

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, where he took uncommon measures to integrate

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Catholics and

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into parish life. In 1858, he became the president of Loyola College in Maryland, remaining only two years before becoming the president of Gonzaga College and rector of St. Aloysius Church, which were impacted by the onset of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. His term ended in 1861, and he returned to Loyola College as

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. He spent his final years as a noted preacher and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Early life

William Francis Clarke was born on March 19, 1816, in the City of Washington in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. His ancestry on his father's side included Robert Clarke, one of the founders of the British

Colony of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryla ...

, and a member of the colonial

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. On his mother's side, his ancestry included some of the early settlers of Maryland,

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, and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Education

He was educated at

. When the Society of Jesus was suppressed worldwide, the Jesuit president of Gonzaga, Jeremiah Keily, disobeyed his superiors by attempting to continue the operation of the school. He informed the parents, including Clarke's, that classes would resume at a new location on

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, without informing them of the school's official closure by the superiors. As a result, Keily was eventually dismissed from the Jesuit order. Clarke attended Keily's school for two years, before Keily transferred leadership to a Virginia educator named Hughes, who relocated the school to

East Capitol Street East Capitol Street is a major street that divides the northeast and southeast quadrants of Washington, D.C. It runs due east from the United States Capitol to the DC-Maryland border. The street is uninterrupted until Lincoln Park then continues ...

. Eventually, Clarke matriculated at

on March 1, 1829, at the unusually young age of 13. He soon placed at the top of his classes each month, and graduated with honors in July 1833.

Teaching

Clarke entered the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

on August 14, 1833, and was sent to the Jesuit

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

s at

White Marsh Manor Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland is a Catholic church established in 1729. The church was originally built on part of the Jesuit estate known as White Marsh Manor. History Sacred Heart Church had been better known as White Marsh a ...

, and then

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

. After one year, he was appointed a professor of third grammar at Georgetown College, and two years later, he transitioned to teaching first grammar. By 1839, he was teaching second grammar. Beginning in 1840, he was again engaged in full-time study of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. On July 4, 1842, he was ordained a

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by the

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Samuel Eccleston Samuel Eccleston, P.S.S. (June 27, 1801 – April 22, 1851) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland from 1834 until his death in 1851. Biography Earl ...

. In 1844, he was charged with giving lectures on Catholic doctrine, which he continued to deliver until his death. The following year, he became a professor of philosophy at Georgetown. He then became (assistant) to the

master of novices In the Roman Catholic Church, a novice master or master of novices, lat. ''Magister noviciorum'', is a member of a religious institute who is responsible for the training and government of the novitiate in that institute. In religious institutes f ...

in Frederick in 1846.

Ministry and leadership

His health rapidly failed in 1846 and, fearing for his life, his superiors sent him to Bohemia Manor, Maryland, to recuperate. He remained there for four years, and his health slowly improved. Eventually, he was appointed

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of St. Joseph's Church in

in 1849. Notably, he would give brief

homilies A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

at Sunday Masses, which was uncommon at the time. Clarke took many measures to integrate black Catholics into the life of St. Joseph's parish. He opened a girls' school run by the

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and a boys' school. He established the first

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for black Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and introduced the

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, an order of black

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, to the parish, placing them in charge of a school. He also had black

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serve at Benedictions of the Blessed Sacrament. In addition, he had Fr. Vicinanza deliver sermons in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for the

in the parish, representing the first Italian religious services in the archdiocese.

Academia

In 1858, Clarke resigned as pastor of St. Joseph's upon his appointment as president of Loyola College in Maryland. Succeeding

John Early John Early may refer to: *John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator *John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois *John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate *John Early (comedi ...

, he remained for only two years, before being appointed president of Gonzaga College in Washington, D.C., to replace Charles H. Stonestreet. He was succeeded as president of Loyola College by Joseph O'Callaghan in July 1860. Simultaneous with his appointment at Gonzaga, he became pastor of the adjacent St. Aloysius Church. He also succeeded

as pastor of Saint Ignatius Church in the city in 1858, and held the post until he was replaced by O'Callaghan the following year. He assumed the posts on the cusp of the

, when tensions where high in the capital city. Within six months of his taking office, the number of students at Gonzaga had reduced by half. In addition to his administration of the College, he also opened a

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

in the basement of St. Aloysius for younger students. On the day of its opening, there were 250 students in attendance. This parochial school was moved to a property owned by Senator

Stephen Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which was ...

that he rented on I Street on September 24, 1860. His presidency of Gonzaga came to an end in 1861, and he was succeeded by Bernardin F. Wiget. He returned to Loyola College as

on August 19, 1861. There, he also frequently preached in the nearby St. Ignatius Church.

Later years

Clarke's tenure at Loyola College came to an end in August 1888, when he returned to Gonzaga College to teach and perform ministerial work at St. Aloysius Church. In his later years, he remained an active preacher, delivering sermons to mark major occasions and anniversaries in Baltimore, Washington, and

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. He came to be considered an authority who was consulted on theological questions, and he catechized students, resulting in a substantial number of conversions to Catholicism. Clarke died on October 17, 1890, at Gonzaga College, and was buried in the

Jesuit Community Cemetery The Jesuit Community Cemetery on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., is the final resting place for Jesuits who were affiliated with the university. It was first established in 1808 and was moved to its present location in ...

at Georgetown.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, William Francis 1816 births 1890 deaths Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. Gonzaga College High School alumni St. Stanislaus Novitiate (Frederick, Maryland) alumni Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni 19th-century American Jesuits Presidents of Gonzaga College High School Presidents of Loyola University Maryland Pastors of St. Ignatius Church (Baltimore) Pastors of St. Aloysius Church (Washington, D.C.) Burials at the Jesuit Community Cemetery