Indiana Catholic History

As we are soon to celebrate Bishop Christopher Coyne’s “first” anniversary as Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis, it is good to remember that on this day (February 3), 1933, Bishop Coyne’s predecessor as Auxiliary, Elmer Joseph Ritter, who was to be known at “Joseph Elmer”, (just like Francis Silas Chatard switched his first and middle name) was named as Auxiliary Bishop to Bishop Joseph Chartrand.

Chartrand probably had some indication of failing health and he obviously desired that Father Ritter, who was then Rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis, to be his successor, or to, at least, carry on.

Ritter had been ordained a priest by Chartrand on May 30, 1917. He was assigned to St. Patrick’s Church in Indianapolis and later to the Cathedral. At the young age of 41, Chartrand named him auxiliary bishop. Ritter was the last auxiliary bishop of Indianapolis until last year’s appointment of Father Christopher Coyne.

Bishop Ritter is known and honored for his ground breaking work in desegregating schools in the Diocese of Indianapolis as early as 1938, and the Archdiocese of St. Louis, where he became Archbishop in 1946.

You can read more about Ritter at any number of websites. Here are some:

Marian College Ritter Memorial Scholarship
Cardinal Ritter Birthplace Foundation
Catholic Hierarchy
Cardinal Ritter High School

In February 2010, during “Black History Month“, Indianapolis TV station, WISH-8 aired a segment about Ritter’s trailblazing. View that video below, or look at the website here

It was just one short year ago today, January 14th that Bishop Christopher Coyne was named as Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis. It was historic in that we have not had an Auxiliary since 1933 when Joseph Elmer Ritter was named Auxiliary. Here is the story as it appeard last year:

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father Christopher J. Coyne, a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston, as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. The Holy See made the announcement today in Rome.

Bishop-designate Coyne, 52, is a native of Woburn, Mass., a northern suburb of Boston. Father Coyne is currently pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Westwood, Mass. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston on June 7, 1986.

Indianapolis Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, O.S.B, will ordain the new auxiliary bishop during a Mass of Episcopal Ordination on March 2 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis. Details of the Mass are pending.

As auxiliary bishop, Bishop-designate Coyne will assist Archbishop Buechlein in serving the sacramental, spiritual and pastoral needs of the people of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

“I am grateful to the Holy Father. I consider this a late Christmas gift,” said Archbishop Buechlein. “As most of you know I’ve had some health issues in recent years, including a bout with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008 and that has curtailed some of my activities. Bishop-designate Coyne is a young 52. I’m 72. I’m looking forward to the energy he will bring to helping us carry out our mission.”

Bishop-designate Coyne thanked Pope Benedict for appointing him auxiliary bishop and said he was humbled by the appointment.

“I thank Archbishop Buechlein for this opportunity to assist him here in his ministry as chief shepherd of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Bishop-designate Coyne said. “I look forward to working with the clergy, the religious and laity of the archdiocese and furthering the mission of the Roman Catholic Church.”

Bishop-designate Coyne said that he has a lot to learn about central and southern Indiana and about being a bishop.

“I need to learn how to be a bishop, a good bishop for the faithful and the clergy of this great archdiocese,” he said. “I pledge myself today to the service of God’s people here in (the archdiocese) and I hope over time to become a true son of Indiana. Please know that my prayers are for you and I ask only the same in return.”

Archbishop Buechlein said Bishop-designate Coyne brings a wealth of experience to the archdiocese.

Bishop-designate Coyne holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Lowell in Lowell, Mass., a master’s of divinity from St. John Seminary in Brighton, Mass., and a licentiate and a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (St. Anselmo) in Rome.

Bishop-designate Coyne served as parochial vicar of St. Mary of the Hills in Milton, Mass., before pursuing his studies in Rome. He served on the faculty of St. John Seminary in Brighton from 1995-2002 and was spokesperson fro the Archdiocese of Boston from 2002-05. He served as pastor of Our Lady of Help of Christians in Newton, Massachusetts, from 2005-2006 and is currently pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Westwood, Mass.

Bishop-designate Coyne said his nearly 25 years of priestly ministry and the challenges he faced as spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston in answering questions about the clergy sex abuse scandal taught him of the “need to listen to what is being said with an open heart and an open mind.”

Bishop-designate Coyne is the first auxiliary bishop to be appointed for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis since Father Joseph Elmer Ritter was appointed on Feb. 3, 1933. He became Bishop of Indianapolis the next year and was the first Archbishop of Indianapolis. Bishop Ritter was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1946 where he was later elevated to Cardinal.

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis serves more than 225,000 Catholics in 151 parishes in 39 counties in central and southern Indiana. The archdiocese covers 13,757 square miles.

Also on this day, in 1849, the Right Rev. Jacques M. Maurice Landes d’Aussac de Saint-Palais, known to everyone simply as Bishop Saint-Palais, was consecrated as Bishop of Vincennes in the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Vincennes.

Born at LaSalvetat, France, on November 15, 1811. St. Palais was ordained a priest at Paris, May 28, 1836. He was Administrator of the diocese after the death of Bishop Bazin and named Bishop of Vincennes, October 3, 1848. He was consecrated by Bishop Pius Miles, OP, of Nashville, assisted by Coadjutor Bishop Martin John Spalding of Louisville and Very Reverend Hippolyte Du Pontavice, vicar general of Vincennes. Died at St. Mary-of-the-Woods, June 28, 1877. His body is interred in the Old Cathedral, Vincennes.

This past Sunday, January 8th, was the 155th anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Fort Wayne. By decree of Pope Pius IX, the northern half of the state became the Diocese of Fort Wayne, the boundaries being that part of the state north of the south boundaries of Fountain, Montgomery, Boone, Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Randolph, and Warren counties. The remaining southern half of the state made up the Diocese of Vincennes, embracing 50 counties. It covered an area of 18,479 square miles extending from the north boundaries of Marion and contiguous counties to the Ohio River and from Illinois on the west to Ohio on the east.

Of course, we know that in 1878, when Francis Silas Chatard was named Bishop of Vincennes, he moved his residence to Indianapolis. In 1898, the Diocese was moved, and renamed, to Indianapolis officially.

In 1944, Indianapolis was made an archdiocese. The anniversary of that event was mentioned on this site. The dioceses of Lafayette-In-Indiana and Evansville were created then. The diocese of Gary came in 1957.

With all the shifting population, it wouldn’t surprise me if more changes were made in the future. As was mentioned in the recording of the reading of the decree in 1944, it is sometimes needed. To paraphrase the decree of 1944, when the governance of souls and the circumstances of time and place require it the Pope can change boundaries etc.

Also on the calendar this Tuesday, January 10th is the 20th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara. Born in Saint Louis and ordained by our own Archbishop Ritter, O’Meara served the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for about 13 years as Archbishop.

I’ll repeat the New York Times obituary which ran on January 11, 1992:

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 11 – Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara, who headed Catholic relief efforts for war and disaster victims around the world, died Friday at his home here. He was 70 years old.

Archbishop O’Meara, the spiritual leader of the 200,000 Roman Catholics in the Indianapolis Archdiocese, was found last summer to be suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease.

The illness led him to resign in September as president and chairman of Catholic Relief Services, an agency in Baltimore that was created to help refugees during World War II and was expanded to a worldwide relief organization. Last year it distributed $230 million in aid to 74 countries.

He was elected to the first board of directors of Catholic Relief Services in the 1970′s and became the agency’s president in 1987. Son of Irish Immigrants

Archbishop O’Meara, who headed a 39-county archdiocese that covers most of the southern half of Indiana, traditionally delivered the invocation before the Indianapolis 500 automobile race.

The son of Irish immigrants, he was born in St. Louis on Aug. 3, 1921, and was ordained there in 1946. He attended Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis and in 1952 earned a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

He was named auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1972 and was installed as the fourth Archbishop of Indianapolis in 1980. He died 12 years to the day after his installation.

In an interview shortly after his installment, Archbishop O’Meara said his affinity for the Catholic Church was rooted in his childhood. “I can never remember a time when I wasn’t drawn to it,” he said. “I liked to be around the priests. I liked what they did. I admired their wholesome life.”

Archbishop O’Meara left no immediate survivors.

Also, in terms of the entire American Catholic Church, one of our new cardinals, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, was ordained a priest by (then) Bishop O’Meara of Saint Louis.

In this first post of 2012 we remember Elizabeth Ann Seton on this, her feast day.

What does Elizabeth Seton she have to do with the history of the Catholic Church in Indiana? She never visited Indiana, but her spirit is here in many ways. One way in which she is present is through her own material possessions. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton had two bibles and she made extensive notes in them. Both of them are in Indiana. The first at the Bruté Library in Vincennes and the other at the University of Notre Dame.

Elizabeth Ann’s spiritual director was our own Simon Bruté. It was he who guided her on her journey. Although he was not part of her life when she converted to Catholicism, he was the one who helped her as a struggling superior of a small group of Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Bruté first met Elizabeth Seton in 1811. Some say that her holiness came as a result of the holiness of Father Bruté. They have been described as “kindred souls”.

It was Father Bruté who saw to it that the papers of Elizabeth Ann Seton were preserved. You can read about this and other aspects of her life by visiting the Seton Shrine web page.

The Sisters who carry on Elizabeth Ann’s work continue to honor Father Bruté for his contribution to her quest for holiness.

We hope this day, that Elizabeth Ann Seton and the women who followed her continue to pray for the Cause of Bishop Bruté.

Here is the prayer for Bishop Brute’s canonization:

Heavenly Father,
source of all that is holy,
in every age, you raise up
men and women who live lives
of heroic love and service.

You have blessed your Church
through the life of Simon Bruté,
first bishop of Vincennes
and spiritual director
to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Through his prayer, his intellect,
his love, and his pastoral care,
Simon Bruté formed future priests
and guided your Church
in the early days of our country.

If it be your will,
may he be proclaimed a saint.
We ask this through Jesus Christ,
our Lord.

—Amen.

Toward the end of World War-II, just before Christmas, Europe was still enveloped in war. The “Battle of the Bulge” was almost over and Nazi Germany would fold in less than six months. The Church continued to function and in Indiana there was celebration because the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII had proclaimed in October that the Diocese of Indianapolis was to become what is known as a Metropolitan See, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

On this day, December 19th 1944, by executorial decree of the papal delegate, the Most Reverend Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, apostolic delegate to the United States, the papal decree of Pope Pius XII was solemnly proclaimed in SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral, elevating Indianapolis to the status of an archdiocese, the state of Indiana becoming the metropolitan area. The dioceses of Evansville and Lafayette-in-Indiana were created by the same decree and, along with the Diocese of Fort Wayne, made suffragan sees of Indianapolis. Upon establishment of the Diocese of Gary on February 25, 1957, it too became a suffragan see.

Interesting enough, the whole process took place, mainly through the urging of Archbishop Timothy McNicholas, who was, at the time, the Archbishop of Cincinnati. Nineteen years previously he had been named Bishop of Indianapolis and Bishop Joseph Chartrand was named Archbishop of Cincinnati. For reasons known only to those involved, the two men were allowed to switch and Chartrand was re-appointed to Indianapolis and McNicholas went to Cincinnati. If this switch had not happened, I wonder if the establishment of Indianapolis as an Archdiocese would have ever happened?

As I already mentioned, it was McNicholas who urged the break up of the Cincinnati province. He wanted to make sure that there was a “rural” diocese included in the new Indianapolis province. He suggested the southeastern part of the State, with Richmond or New Albany as the see city, but that suggestion obviously did not pan out. It was also suggested that St. Meinrad Abbey and Vincennes should remain as part of Indianapolis. The first part happened with one township of Harrison County remaining within the boundaries of Indianapolis. Vincennes, however, became a part of the new Diocese of Evansville.

Listen to the reading of the decree, recorded in the Cathedral of Sts. Peter & Paul on this day in 1944

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