Early Life and Education
Francis Spellman was born in Whitman, Massachusetts, to William and Ellen (née Conway) Spellman. His father (1858–1957), whose own parents had immigrated to the United States from Clonmel and Leighlinbridge in Ireland, worked in shoemaking before becoming a grocer. The eldest of five children, Francis had two brothers, Martin and John, and two sisters, Marian and Helene. As a child, he served as an altar boy at the Holy Ghost Church. He had a difficult relationship with his strict father, but was very attached to his mother.
Spellman attended Whitman High School because there was no local Catholic school. He enjoyed photography and baseball; he was a first baseman during his first year of high school until a hand injury forced him to stop playing, and later managed the team. Following his high school graduation, Spellman entered Fordham University in New York in 1907. He graduated in 1911 and decided to study for the priesthood. He was then sent by Archbishop William Henry O'Connell to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. During his years in Rome, Spellman befriended such figures as Gaetano Bisleti, Francesco Borgongini Duca, and Domenico Tardini. He also suffered from pneumonia, leaving his state of health so poor that his superiors wanted him to leave the North American College. He nevertheless remained and managed to complete his doctorate.
Read more about this topic: Francis Spellman
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or education:
“Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“When this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution. The citizen should be molded to suit the form of government under which he lives. For each government has a peculiar character which originally formed and which continues to preserve it. The character of democracy creates democracy, and the character of oligarchy creates oligarchy.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)