John W. Beschter, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

John W. Beschter

Luxembourg Jesuit missionary

Date of Birth: 20-May-1763

Place of Birth: Duchy of Luxembourg

Date of Death: 04-Jan-1842

Profession: pastor, missionary, Catholic priest, academic administrator

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

John William Beschter (born Johann Wilhelm Beschter; May 20, 1763 – January 6, 1842) was a Catholic priest and Jesuit from the Duchy of Luxembourg in the Austrian Netherlands who emigrated to the United States as a missionary, where he ministered in rural Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Beschter was the last Jesuit pastor of St.
Mary's Church in Lancaster, as well as the pastor of St.
John the Evangelist Church in Baltimore, in addition to being a priest at several other German-speaking churches in Pennsylvania.
His ministerial work was punctuated by a time as master of novices at the new Jesuit novitiate in White Marsh, Maryland, as well as a brief term as President of Georgetown University in 1829.
While in Maryland, he aligned himself with the Continental European Jesuits in the United States, who endorsed a monarchist view of ecclesiastical leadership.
Following the end of his presidency, Beschter remained at Georgetown for a year as a professor of German, before returning to Paradise, Pennsylvania, where he lived out the last twelve years of his life as a priest.