Description
First Director of the Summer School of Sacred Theology from 1948 to 1953. Father Friel was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on April 4, 1907 where he attended the parochial schools of the Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence. After attending Aquinas College in Columbus, OH, for a short time, Father Friel enrolled at Providence College where he graduated Class of 1929. In addition, Father Friel studied at St. Rose's, KY; St. Thomas College, River Forest, IL; St. Joseph's, Somerset, OH; House of Studies, Washington, DC, and the Catholic University where he received his doctorate in philosophy. Father Friel was ordained at St. Dominic's, Washington, DC, on June 14, 1934 by Archbishop Michael J. Curley of Baltimore, MD. In 1937, Father Friel came to Providence College as Professor of Philosophy and in 1948 was appointed director of the newly formed Theology School. Father Friel served as the Theology School director until 1953. Under his direction, the first graduating class of 1950 numbered seventy-four sisters and by 1953 enrollment had increased to 231 nuns from twenty-four different motherhouses. Father Friel continued teaching philosophy and education in the years following his stepping down as director of the school and passed away in late February of 1974.
