Reverend Leonard Edward Feeney

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An important yet controversial character in American Catholicism

A controversial Jesuit priest and writer (February 18, 1897 to January 30, 1978) who founded Feeneyism, which is noted for the belief that anyone who is not baptized in the Catholic Church is condemned to hell. Among these controversies, Feeney was known for being antisemitic and anti-Protestant. At one point, Feeney was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1953. Feeney would enter into Harvard’s history when he went on to make one of his communities with his followers on Still River Road. This community would eventually turn into the Saint Benedictine’s Center. At the end of his life, Feeney would eventually be reaccepted into the Catholic Church.

Source, “Sects: The Slaves of Leonard Feeney.” In Time Magazine. January 1, 1965.