Francis Dzierozynski

Francis Dzierozynski (born Franciszek Dzierożyński; January 3, 1779 – September 22, 1850) was a Polish Catholic priest and Jesuit who became a prominent missionary to the United States. Born in the town of Orsha, in the Russian Empire (modern-day Belarus), he entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest in 1806. He taught and studied in Polotsk and Mogilev until leading students in an escape from the French invasion of Russia in 1812. He returned to Polotsk, where he taught until the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Russian Empire in 1820. Thereafter, he took up teaching in Bologna, Italy.

The Jesuit Superior General sent Dzierozynski to the United States as a missionary the following year. He was given broad authority over the Jesuits' Maryland Mission, and taught at Georgetown College while learning English. In 1823, he was appointed the superior of the Maryland Mission, with jurisdiction over all the Jesuits in the United States. During his term, he continued teaching at Georgetown, where he was also master of novices. As superior, he reconciled the Society of Jesus and the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen, a holdover from the period of suppression of the Jesuits that owned most of the American Jesuits' property, and oversaw the transition of Saint Louis College into a Jesuit institution. He also was involved in significant disputes with the American bishops, especially Ambrose Maréchal, with whom his quarrel over the ownership of valuable White Marsh Manor, endured for many years and involved such prominent figures as John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Roger Taney, Luigi Fortis, and Pope Pius VII.

His term as superior of the mission came to an end in 1830, and Dzierozynski took up other prominent positions in the Maryland Mission. He also resumed teaching and led retreats. He again became leader of the newly elevated Maryland Province in 1839, but his old age and continuing conflicts with bishops and the Superior General resulted in an unsuccessful administration of the province. His term came to an end in 1843, and he spent his final years at the novitiate in Frederick, Maryland, where he died.