Michael Francis Egan was in all probability born in Ireland. Historical societies have vainly endeavored to determine the exact place of his birth; inquiries prosecuted through the houses of his Order have resulted only in the information that when as a young man he filled the office of Guardian of St. Isadore’s, the house of the Irish Franciscans at Rome, it was generally believed that he was born in Galway—a belief that the archives of that diocese fail to confirm.
He was about thirty years old when he returned to Ireland as a missionary priest. Ten years later, he came to America and succeeded Father Antoine Gamier as assistant priest at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In April 1803, he was appointed one of the pastors of St. Mary’s Church in Philadelphia. The new See of Philadelphia was erected by Pius VII on April 8, 1808, but owing to the struggle between the Pope and Napoleon, the bulls did not reach America until more than two years later. On October 28, 1810, Bishop Egan was consecrated by Archbishop Carroll in St. Peter’s Church, Baltimore. That he was humble is apparent in much of his correspondence with Carroll and others. But his lack of firmness was at times coupled with that obstinacy in matters of small consequence which in some natures, otherwise unassertive, is the substitute for consistent stability. In response to a letter which the then bishop of Baltimore had written to the trustees of St. Mary’s, Holy Trinity, and St. Augustine’s, the three existing Philadelphia parishes, it had been agreed that certain sums should be paid by each of these congregations to the new bishop as rector of the cathedral church of St. Mary's and additional proportionate amounts for his fitting maintenance as head of the diocese. The trustees, however, reserved the exclusive rights to the pew rents. It was perhaps inopportune that with the assumption of these obligations, the trustees should almost immediately have planned the enlargement of the cathedral church, for it was not long before they were engaged in a bitter quarrel with the ordinary over financial matters. It is possible that the difficulties might have been composed, but for the dictatorial methods adopted by two priests, Father James Harold and his nephew, William Vincent Harold. The two clerics induced Bishop Egan to sign an address to the congregation which that prelate later assured Archbishop Carroll was “never approved of by me, ” but signed through “a pliability of disposition” (Griffin, post, p. 69). But if the demands of the bishop and his assistants were more definite than diplomatic, the language and the tactics of certain of the laity were neither Christian nor honorable. To make matters worse, the two clergymen who had helped to precipitate the deplorable controversy became as insubordinate as any members of the flock and it was with difficulty that the bishop rid himself of these enemies of his own household. So devastating were the results of the quarrel between clergy and laity, that Archbishop Maréchal, writing to Propaganda some years later, declared that “religion had been almost overthrown in Philadelphia” (Guilday, post). Worn out by incessant strife, Bishop Egan developed pulmonary difficulties, and, following an attack of nervous prostration, died on July 22, 1814, three years and nine months after his consecration.
Catholic
When Carroll had been asked earlier for his opinion of the several candidates who were being considered, he had written concerning Egan: “He is truly learned, remarkable for his humility, but deficient, perhaps, in firmness and without great experience in the direction of affairs” (Shea, post). Every event in the short episcopal career of the mild Franciscan shows that the portrait was limned with insight. That the first bishop of Philadelphia was a man of more than ordinary learning is evident from the fact that he preached in English and German with equal facility and more than average felicity and read and spoke French with ease and fluency.
