page_title: David Hillhouse Buel (priest)
section_title: Laity and marriage
hierarchical_section_title: David Hillhouse Buel (priest) / Later life / Laity and marriage
caption_attribution_description: English: Early divided back postcard of Beacon Road (Allerton) station
context_page_description: David Hillhouse Buel Jr. was an American priest who served as the president of Georgetown University. He was a Catholic priest and Jesuit for much of his life, but later left the Jesuit order to marry, and subsequently left the Catholic Church to become an Episcopal priest. Born at Watervliet, New York, he was the son of David Hillhouse Buel, a distinguished Union Army officer, and descended from numerous prominent New England families who were among the earliest colonial settlers of the United States. While studying at Yale University, he was introduced to Michael J. McGivney, a priest at St. Mary's Church, and converted to Catholicism, entering the Society of Jesus after graduation.
  In 1901, Buel became a professor at Georgetown University. He took charge of the university in 1905, after the sudden removal of the president. In this role, he promoted intramural sports, oversaw construction of Ryan Gymnasium, and reformed the curriculum and university governance. He also instituted strict discipline and curtailed intercollegiate athletics, stoking fierce opposition from the student body and their parents, which resulted in his removal by the Jesuit superiors in 1908.
context_section_description: On December 30, 1912, Buel secretly married Katherine Frances Powers in New Canaan, Connecticut, to the surprise of even Powers' parents. Powers was the daughter of Edward J. Powers, a contracting mason, of whom she was one of eight daughters.  She reportedly had been left an inheritance valued at more than $10,000. Her mother, Mary Powers née Conway, was a devout Catholic and raised her children as such; one daughter became a nun. Buel and Powers met at a summer resort in Point Allterton, Massachusetts, in 1912, and began a secret courtship. Following their marriage, they moved to Kip's Bay in Manhattan. Their marriage did not produce any children.
  Meanwhile, the Jesuits at Georgetown were shocked to learn of his marriage through the news, and several senior Jesuits condemned it as inviting criticism of the university by those seeking salacious stories. It was reported in the media that Buel's marriage, which was a violation of his vow of celibacy, automatically severed him from the priesthood and excommunicated him latae sententiae from the Catholic Church. Buel responded to the criticism by writing an open letter to the United Press, saying he was not a Jesuit at the time of his marriage, having previously tendered his resignation to the Society of Jesus as a member in good standing. He argued that the Jesuits' public criticism of his marriage was a personally motivated departure from their usual policy of secrecy, and cited several former Jesuits who withdrew from the order and received no public condemnation.
caption: Center of Point Allerton, Massachusetts, the summer resort town where Buel and Powers met
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