William Vincent Harold, OP and John Albert Ryan, OP Papers Collection William Vincent Harold, OP was a Dominican friar from Ireland. He came to the United States in 1808 to be a priest at St. Mary’s Parish in New York. He was well-known for being a skilled preacher and quickly became a trusted assistant to Bishop Michael Egan. Soon St. Mary’s would be plagued with financial trouble, stressing the already tense relationship between Egan, Harold, William’s uncle, James Harold, also a priest at St. Mary’s, and the parish trustees. In 1812, the Harolds made the announcement that they would be leaving St. Mary’s. Despite outrage from the parishioners and their protests to Archbishop John Carroll, the friars returned to Europe in 1813, where William proceeded to criticize the American church. Next week we will introduce John Albert Ryan, OP.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000