Robert Molyneux

{{Short description|English-American Jesuit (1738–1808)}} {{good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Use American English|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Robert Molyneux | order = 2nd & 5th | image = Robert Molyneux (cropped).jpg | caption = | predecessor = [[Leonard Neale]] | successor = [[Francis Neale]] | title = [[List of presidents of Georgetown University|President of Georgetown College]] | predecessor2 = [[Robert Plunkett]] | successor2 = [[Louis Guillaume Valentin DuBourg|Louis William DuBourg]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1738|07|24}} | birth_place = [[Formby]], [[Lancashire]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|1808|12|09|1738|07|24}} | resting_place = [[Jesuit Community Cemetery (Georgetown University)|Jesuit Community Cemetery]] | alma_mater = [[Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège|Colleges of St Omer and Bruges]] | alt = Oval portrait of Robert Molyneux | image_size = 200px | term_start = 1806 | term_end = 1808 | term_start1 = 1793 | term_end1 = 1796 | honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]] | death_place = [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]], [[District of Columbia]], United States{{Efn|name=georgetown|[[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|Georgetown]] was a separately chartered city within the [[District of Columbia (until 1871)|District of Columbia]] until the consolidation of the district's governments into a single entity, [[Washington, D.C.]], with the [[District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871|Organic Act of 1871]].<ref name=dodd40>{{harvnb|Dodd|1909|p=40}}</ref>}} | signature = Rev. Robert Molyneux signature.png | signature_alt = Signature of Robert Molyneux | honorific_suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]] }}

'''Robert P. Molyneux''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Society of Jesus|SJ]]}} (July 24, 1738 – December 9, 1808){{Efn|name=surname|Molyneux's surname was spelled in some writings as Molyneaux or Molineaux.<ref name="griffin5" />}} was an English-American [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] priest and [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[missionary]] to the United States. Born to a prominent English family, he entered the Society of Jesus and studied at the [[Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège|College of St Omer]] in France. When the school moved to [[Bruges]], Belgium, he followed, becoming a master. In 1771, he emigrated to the United States as a missionary, where he took up pastoral work in [[Philadelphia]].

He became the pastor of both [[Old St. Joseph's Church]] and [[St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Philadelphia)|Old St. Mary's Church]], where he served for 16 years. During that time, he opened the first [[parochial school]] in the United States, and edited the first American [[catechism]]. His pastorate encompassed the [[American Revolutionary War]], and though he did not expressly commit himself to either belligerent, he largely endorsed the American cause.

Molyneux then spent several years in the Jesuits' [[Maryland]] missions, and was made [[vicar general]] for [[Southern Maryland]] by the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|Bishop of Baltimore]], [[John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore)|John Carroll]]. In 1793, Carroll appointed Molyneux the second [[List of presidents of Georgetown University|president]] of [[Georgetown University|Georgetown College]], where he oversaw the construction of the [[Old North Building|Old North]] building. After three years, he returned to missionary work, until 1805, when he was named the first [[Provincial superior|superior]] of the [[Jesuits in the United States|Jesuit Maryland Mission]] after their [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|restoration]]. He remained superior for the rest of his life, and saw the establishment of a [[novitiate]] at Georgetown, where he became president again in 1806. His term lasted two years, before he died.

==Early life== [[File:Coat of Arms of Robert Molineux.svg|175px|thumb|left|Coat of Arms of Robert Molyneux]] Robert P. Molyneux was born July 24, 1738, in [[Formby]], [[Lancashire]], England, into a prominent, [[Cavalier]] family.<ref name="burton59">{{harvnb|Burton|1981|p=59}}</ref><ref name="treacy160" /> Due to the [[Penal law (British)|Penal Laws]], he was tutored privately at home,<ref name="Penn">{{Cite web|url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/robert-molyneux|title=Robert Molyneux|website=University of Pennsylvania Archives & Records Center|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723214951/https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/robert-molyneux|archive-date=July 23, 2019|access-date=March 26, 2020}}</ref> before entering the [[Society of Jesus]] on September 7, 1757, following in the path of his brother, William.<ref name=hurley273>{{harvnb|Hurley|1938|p=273}}</ref> Molyneux then enrolled at the [[Colleges of St Omer, Bruges and Liège|College of St Omer]] in France, and continued with the school when it relocated to [[Bruges]], Belgium.<ref name="burton59" /> He became a master there in 1764,<ref name=treacy160>{{harvnb|Treacy|1889|p=160}}</ref> and had as one of his students [[John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore)|John Carroll]], the future [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore|Archbishop of Baltimore]].<ref name="shea33" />

Though he was [[Holy orders in the Catholic Church|ordained]] a [[Priesthood in the Catholic Church|priest]],<ref name="treacy160" /> Molyneux had not yet pronounced his final vows when he went to the United States as a [[missionary]]. He arrived in [[Maryland]] in 1771,<ref name="burton59" /> where he worked in the [[Jesuits in the United States|Jesuits' Maryland Mission]].<ref name="treacy160" /> His ancestor, Richard Molyneux, had previously been a Jesuit who worked in the Maryland Mission.<ref name=malone82>{{Harvnb|Malone|1934|p=82}}</ref> The Bishop of Maryland, John Carroll, sought to appoint Molyneux his [[coadjutor bishop]], but Molyneux declined the post.<ref name="treacy160" />

== Missionary in America == Molyneux was in Maryland for only a short while before he went to [[Philadelphia]] on March 21, 1771.<ref name="hurley273" /> When the [[pastor]] of [[Old St. Joseph's Church]], Robert Harding, died in 1771, John Lewis was appointed to succeed him; however, Lewis very shortly thereafter left for Maryland. In his place,<ref name="griffin4">{{harvnb|Griffin|1882|p=4}}</ref> Molyneux was named pastor of Old St. Joseph's in September 1772,<ref name="hurley273" /> as well as of [[St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Philadelphia)|Old St. Mary's Church]].<ref name="griffin5">{{harvnb|Griffin|1882|p=5}}</ref> He had as his assistant [[Ferdinand Steinmeyer|Ferdinand Farmer]],<ref name="griffin4" /> who ministered primarily to the German parishioners, traveling as far as [[New York (state)|New York]] to do so.<ref name="hurley273" />

=== New country and new diocese === [[File:Old St. Mary's Church Philadelphia lithograph.jpg|thumb|left|Molyneux was pastor of [[St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Philadelphia)|Old St. Mary's Church]] (pictured) and [[Old St. Joseph's Church]] for 16 years|alt=Lithograph of Old St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia]]

In 1773, [[Pope Clement XIV]] ordered the worldwide [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|suppression of the Jesuit order]].<ref name="griffin5" /> At the time, there were 20 Jesuits working in the United States.<ref name="trecy133">{{harvnb|Treacy|1889|p=133}}</ref> With the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1775, Molyneux adopted a personal policies described as general neutrality,<ref name="hurley275">{{harvnb|Hurley|1938|p=275}}</ref> as well as moderate patriotism.<ref name="Penn" /> Nonetheless, he aligned his parish with the Americans in the war of independence.<ref name="burton59" /> Four members of the [[Continental Congress]], including [[George Washington]] and [[John Adams]], visited Old St. Joseph's during the war, and Molyneux celebrated the [[Requiem|requiem masses]] for a French officer who drowned in the [[Schuylkill River]] and the Spanish ambassador.<ref name="hurley277" /> He also presided over the funeral of the Spaniard [[Juan de Miralles]].<ref name="burton59" /> He celebrated masses to mark the anniversary of [[Independence Day (United States)|American Independence]], beginning in 1779.<ref name="hurley277">{{harvnb|Hurley|1938|p=277}}</ref> Molyneux took the oath of allegiance to the [[Pennsylvania|State of Pennsylvania]], and in 1783, signed a petition to have [[United States Congress|Congress]] return to Philadelphia.<ref name="malone82" /> In 1782, Molyneux established the first [[parochial school]] in the United States, which would later go on to become St. Mary's Interparochial School.<ref name="joyce16-17">{{Cite magazine|last=Joyce|first=Daniel R.J.|date=Summer 2015|title=A Jesuit's Perspective: Education Links Pope Francis, Philadelphia and SJU|url=https://sites.sju.edu/magazine/files/2017/11/Summer-2015-Alumni-Magazine-1.pdf|magazine=Saint Joseph's University Magazine|pages=16–17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323043616/https://sites.sju.edu/magazine/files/2017/11/Summer-2015-Alumni-Magazine-1.pdf|archive-date=March 23, 2020|access-date=March 23, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

Molyneux supported the establishment of a Catholic [[Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|episcopal hierarchy]] in the United States, so that it would be separate from the [[ecclesiastical jurisdiction]] of the English bishops. Therefore, he encouraged John Carroll to accept the position of [[Prefect Apostolic of the United States]],<ref name="malone82" /> to which Carroll was appointed by the [[Sacred Congregation de propaganda fide|Sacred Congregation ''de Propaganda Fide'']] in 1784.<ref name=shea223>{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=223}}</ref> Molyneux then joined others in writing to Rome to request the elevation of the [[apostolic prefecture]] to the rank of [[diocese]] and the installation of an American bishop.<ref name="malone82" /> [[Pope Pius VI]] consented, and Carroll became the first Bishop of Baltimore in 1789.<ref name=shea336>{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=336}}</ref>

While pastor, Molyneux published two [[catechism]]s, one in 1785 and another 1788, making him, so far as is known, the first American to edit a catechism.<ref name="christiandoctrine">{{harvnb|Scannell|1909}}</ref> He also gained a reputation as an eloquent [[preacher]].<ref name="treacy160" /> He Molyneux tutored [[Anne-César de La Luzerne]], the [[List of ambassadors of France to the United States|French minister plenipotentiary to the United States]], in English.<ref name="hurley278">{{harvnb|Hurley|1938|p=278}}</ref> From 1786 to 1788, Molyneux served as a trustee of the [[University of the State of Pennsylvania]] by virtue of being the most senior Catholic cleric in Philadelphia.<ref name="Penn" /> He also became a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref name=hurley276>{{harvnb|Hurley|1938|p=276}}</ref>

His pastorate of the two churches came to an end in February 1788,<ref name="griffin5" /> and he was succeeded by [[Dominic Laurence Graessel|Dominic Lawrence Graessel]].<ref name="griffin6">{{harvnb|Griffin|1882|p=6}}</ref> Molyneux then left Philadelphia for the Jesuits' Maryland missions, first going to [[St. Francis Xavier Church (Warwick, Maryland)|Bohemia Manor]].<ref name="shea524">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=524}}</ref> John Carroll then appointed him the [[vicar general]] for the southern district of the diocese,<ref name="shea395">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=395}}</ref> and he was stationed at [[St. Francis Xavier Church and Newtown Manor House Historic District|Newtown Manor]].<ref name="shea524" />

Molyneux became the second [[List of presidents of Georgetown University|president]] of [[Georgetown University]] on June 14, 1793, succeeding [[Robert Plunkett]]. John Carroll had previously sought to appoint him as the school's first president, but Molyneux declined.<ref name=curran31>{{harvnb|Curran|1993|p=31}}</ref> Molyneux immediately undertook a project to expand the college, purchasing {{Convert|2|acre|ha|abbr=off|spell=in}} of land,<ref name="shea20" /> located to the north of the original Old South building. This provided room for a second building as well as space for recreation for the students.<ref name=shea20>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=20}}</ref> Construction on the [[Old North Building|Old North]] building, which was modeled after [[Nassau Hall]] at [[Princeton University]], began in 1794.<ref name=curran46>{{harvnb|Curran|1993|p=46}}</ref> Funding for construction of the building was unsteady,<ref name=curran47>{{harvnb|Curran|1993|p=47}}</ref> as the school was unable to raise adequate money through donations by Maryland Catholics.<ref name="curran46" /> As a result, a Jesuit estate on [[Double Pipe Creek]] was sold to pay for the building, and beef was also offered as [[barter]].<ref name="shea20" />

After delays resulting from this insecurity in funding, Old North opened in spring 1797.<ref name="curran47" /> To support the increasing enrollment, the building quintupled the dormitory space on campus, and housed a [[chapel]] and several classrooms. Compared to the small structures and simple architecture of the city at the time, Old North was monumental,<ref name="curran46" /> and was described as one of the "grandest works in Washington, after the [[United States Capitol|Capitol Building]]."<ref name=architecture>{{Cite news|last=Toporoff|first=Andrew|url=https://thehoya.com/listening-to-architecture-what-georgetown-university-says-today/|title=Listening to Architecture: What Georgetown University Says Today|date=February 8, 2012|work=[[The Hoya]]|access-date=March 28, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118101401/https://thehoya.com/listening-to-architecture-what-georgetown-university-says-today/|archive-date=November 18, 2018}}</ref> In late 1796, Molyneux submitted his resignation to John Carroll because of his declining health; [[Louis William Valentine DuBourg|Louis William DuBourg]] was named as his successor in October of that year.<ref name="curran47" /> Upon leaving office,<ref name="shea524" /> Molyneux returned to Newtown Manor for two years.<ref name="treacy1612">{{harvnb|Treacy|1889|p=161}}</ref>

== Superior of the Maryland Jesuits == When [[Pope Pius VII|Pius VII]] was elected [[pope]], Emperor [[Paul I of Russia]] requested the formal restoration of the Jesuit order. In response, the pope issued the [[Papal bull|bull]] {{Lang|la|Catholicæ Fidei}} on March 7, 1801, which officially permitted the Society of Jesus to continue existing in the [[Russian Empire]].<ref name="shea516">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=516}}</ref> In turn, the members of the Jesuits' former English province sought the pope's permission to be received back into the Society, as members of the Russian province. They pope gave them verbal approval and expressed his desire for the worldwide restoration of the Jesuits, but did not commit this to writing, as the political enemies of the Society remained powerful.<ref name="shea517">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=517}}</ref>

[[File:St Ignatius Church St Thomas Manor Sept 09.JPG|thumb|While superior of the Jesuits, Molyneux lived at [[St. Thomas Manor]].|alt=St. Ignatius Church at St. Thomas Manor]]

Seeing these developments, Bishop Carroll instructed his coadjutor, [[Leonard Neale]], (both former Jesuits) to write [[Gabriel Gruber]], the [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Jesuit Superior General]], to request permission for the Maryland Jesuits to join with the Russian province. Gruber responded that he believed that the pope's [[Oracula vivæ vocis|''oraculum vivæ vocis'']] approbation of the Jesuits in Russia authorized him to quietly admit Jesuits from anywhere in the world to the Russian province.<ref name="shea517" /> However, Bishop Carroll was wary that the papal permission was addressed only to Russia and was not memorialized in writing, which would allow a future pope who was hostile to the Jesuits to declare the American Jesuits insubordinate to the order of suppression. Therefore, he convened all the former Jesuits at [[St. Thomas Manor]],<ref name="shea522">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=522}}</ref> and instructed them that they must each individually choose whether they would accept the risk of re-joining the Society.<ref name="shea523" />

All the Jesuits elected to join the Russian province, and Carroll appointed Molyneux [[Superior (hierarchy)|superior]] of the Jesuits' Maryland Mission on June 21, 1805, with the powers of [[provincial superior]] over the Jesuits in the United States.<ref name="shea523">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=523}}</ref> As the first American superior of the restored Society, he resumed the position last held by John Lewis.<ref name=ramspacher300>{{harvnb|Ramspacher|1962|p=300}}</ref> As superior, he took up residence at St. Thomas Manor.<ref name="shea524" /> One of his first actions was to oversee the establishment of a Jesuit [[novitiate]] at Georgetown on October 10, 1806,<ref name=shea525>{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=525}}</ref> and a [[Jesuit formation|scholasticate]] two years after that. Five Jesuits from the Russian province were sent to Maryland to work and teach at Georgetown.<ref name=shea30>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=30}}</ref>

=== Second presidency of Georgetown === In addition to his duties as superior, Molyneux again resumed the presidency of Georgetown on October 1, 1806,<ref name=shea33>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=33}}</ref> replacing Bishop Leonard Neale.<ref name="shea30" /> In so doing, Georgetown College officially became a Jesuit institution. By this time, [[St. Mary's Seminary and University|St. Mary's Seminary and College]] in [[Baltimore]], the second Catholic college in the United States, had grown and was competing with Georgetown for students. Molyneux saw that progress continued on Old North,<ref name="shea33" /> which, though structurally complete, remained unfinished in the interior; only its third floor was able to be used. Lacking funds, the Jesuits themselves assisted the plasterer, such as by making [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]]. Though the enrollment remained low, progress on the college's facilities improved the public's perception of the school.<ref name=shea34>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=34}}</ref>

Molyneux's health began to fail, and he exhibited [[Edema|dropsy]]. He resigned the presidency,<ref name=shea35>{{harvnb|Shea|1891|p=35}}</ref> and shortly thereafter, died at Georgetown College on December 9, 1808.<ref name="mosley291">{{harvnb|Mosley|1906|p=291}}</ref> He had appointed [[Charles Neale]] to succeed him as superior of the Jesuits;<ref name="shea627">{{harvnb|Shea|1888|p=627}}</ref> [[Francis Neale]] became acting president of the college until [[William Matthews (priest)|William Matthews]]' appointment.<ref name=curran404>{{harvnb|Curran|1993|p=404}}</ref> He is buried in the [[Jesuit Community Cemetery]] at the college.<ref name="mosley291" /> Upon his death, John Carroll recounted Molyneux as his "oldest friend" after his childhood friend [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]].<ref name="shea627" />

[[Saint Joseph's University]] in Philadelphia created the Molyneux-Lilly Award, named for Robert Molyneux and Thomas Lilly, both Jesuits. The annual award is given to an educator in Philadelphia's Catholic schools.<ref name=molyneuxaward>{{Cite web|url=https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-from-the-Sisters-of-Saint-Joseph--Chestnut-Hill--Philadelphia.html?soid=1123910691374&aid=aVWO62BJTNQ|title=Sister Karen Dietrich SSJ Receives The Molyneux-Lilly Award January 25, 2018|date=February 13, 2018|website=Sisters of Saint Joseph|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115132443/https://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-from-the-Sisters-of-Saint-Joseph--Chestnut-Hill--Philadelphia.html?soid=1123910691374&aid=aVWO62BJTNQ|archive-date=January 15, 2019|access-date=March 28, 2020}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References==

=== Citations === {{reflist}}

=== Sources === {{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{Cite journal|last=Burton|first=David H.|date=January 1981|title=The Jesuit as American Patriot: Fathers Robert Harding and Robert Molyneux|journal=[[Pennsylvania History (journal)|Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies]]|volume=48|issue=1|pages=51–61|jstor=27772709}} * {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTnIE1HixpYC&pg=PA46|title=The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University, 1789–1889|last=Curran|first=Robert Emmett|publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]]|year=1993|isbn=978-0-87840-485-8|volume=1|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=March 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328015032/https://books.google.com/books?id=wTnIE1HixpYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA46|archive-date=March 28, 2020|url-status=live|via=Google Books}} * {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/governmentdistr01doddgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/governmentdistr01doddgoog/page/n46 40]|title=The Government of the District of Columbia: A Study in Federal and Municipal Administration|last=Dodd|first=Walter Farleigh|publisher=John Byrne & Co.|year=1909|location=Washington, D.C.|oclc=2485653|access-date=March 23, 2020|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite book|last=Griffin|first=Martin I. J.|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofoldstjo00grif/page/4|title=History of "Old St. Joseph's"|publisher=I.C.B.U. Journal Print|year=1882|location=Philadelphia|oclc=74848131|author-link=Martin Ignatius Joseph Griffin|access-date=March 23, 2020|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite journal|last=Hurley|first=Philip S.|date=October 1938|title=Father Robert Molyneux|url=http://jesuitarchives.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-067.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[Woodstock Letters]]|volume=LXVII|issue=3|pages=271–292|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322203504/http://jesuitarchives.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-067.pdf|archive-date=March 22, 2020|access-date=March 22, 2020|via=Jesuit Archives}} * {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer13amer|title=Dictionary of American Biography|publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]|year=1934|editor-last=Malone|editor-first=Dumas|volume=13|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer13amer/page/81 81]–82|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite journal|last=Mosley|first=Joseph|date=September 1906|editor-last=Devitt|editor-first=Edward I.|editor-link=Edward I. Devitt|title=Letters of Father Joseph Mosley, S. J., and Some Extracts from His Diary|journal=Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia|volume=17|issue=3|pages=289–311|jstor=44207979}} * {{Cite journal|last=Ramspacher|first=Joseph H.|date=July 1962|title=Major Superiors in the Northern United States|url=http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-091.pdf|url-status=live|journal=[[Woodstock Letters]]|volume=XCI|issue=3|pages=300–303|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211225744/http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-091.pdf|archive-date=February 11, 2020|access-date=March 27, 2020|via=Jesuit Archives}} * {{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Christian Doctrine|first=Thomas Bartholomew|last=Scannell|volume=5|prescript=|no-icon=1}} * {{Cite book|last=Shea|first=John Gilmary|url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofmostr00shea/page/n8/|title=Life and Times of the Most Rev. John Carroll|publisher=John G. Shea|year=1888|location=New York|oclc=496261990|author-link=John Gilmary Shea|via=Internet Archive}} * {{Cite book|last=Shea|first=John Gilmary|title=Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D.C.: Comprising a History of Georgetown University|publisher=[[Peter Fenelon Collier|P. F. Collier]]|year=1891|volume=3|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=20–22, 33–35|chapter=Chapter II: Rev. Robert Molyneux|oclc=960066298|author-link=John Gilmary Shea|access-date=March 27, 2020|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdRAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19-IA1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327211959/https://books.google.com/books?id=YdRAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19-IA1|archive-date=March 27, 2020|url-status=live|via=Google Books}} * {{Cite book|last=Treacy|first=William P.|url=https://archive.org/details/oldcatholicmaryl00trea/page/160/|title=Old Catholic Maryland and Its Early Jesuit Missionaries|year=1889|location=Swedesboro, New Jersey|oclc=865943551|via=Internet Archive}} {{refend}}

== External links == * {{Cite journal|last=Molyneux|first=Robert|date=July 1890|orig-year=Delivered in 1786|title=Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Rev. Ferdinand Farmer, Who Departed This Life the 17th of August, 1786, in the 66th Year of His Age|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-catholic-historical-researches_1890-07_7_3/page/124|journal=The American Catholic Historical Researches|volume=7|issue=3|pages=124–128|jstor=44373670}} {{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=John Lewis|rows=2}} {{s-ttl|title=Pastor of [[Old St. Joseph's Church]]|order=4th|years=1772—1788}} {{s-aft|after=[[Dominic Lawrence Graessel]]|rows=2}}

{{s-ttl|title=Pastor of [[St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church (Philadelphia)|Old St. Mary's Church]]|years=1772—1788}}

{{s-bef|before=John Lewis}} {{s-ttl|title=Superior of the [[Jesuits in the United States|Jesuit Maryland Mission]]|order=21st|years=1805—1808}} {{s-aft|after=[[Charles Neale]]}}

{{s-aca}} {{s-bef|before=[[Robert Plunkett]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of presidents of Georgetown University|President of Georgetown College]]|years=1793—1796|order=2nd}} {{s-aft|after=[[Louis William Valentine Dubourg|Louis William Dubourg]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Leonard Neale]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of presidents of Georgetown University|President of Georgetown College]]|years=1806—1808|order=5th}} {{s-aft|after=[[Francis Neale]]}} {{s-end}}

{{Georgetown University presidents|state=collapsed}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Education|England|Philadelphia|United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molyneux, Robert}} [[Category:1738 births]] [[Category:1808 deaths]] [[Category:People from Formby]] [[Category:18th-century English Jesuits]] [[Category:19th-century English Jesuits]] [[Category:18th-century American Jesuits]] [[Category:19th-century American Jesuits]] [[Category:People educated at Stonyhurst College]] [[Category:Provincial superiors of the Jesuit Maryland Province]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania people]] [[Category:Presidents of Georgetown University]] [[Category:Burials at the Georgetown University Jesuit Community Cemetery]] [[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]