The month of July is somewhat slow with regard to the history of the Church in Indiana. However, the end of June and the entire month of July are filled with events surounding our early Bishops. My last post was dedicated to the death of Bishop Brute, and I waited until now to include the death of Bishop St. Palais, who died on June 28, 1877 at St. Mary of the Woods. St. Palais was the bridge from the struggling, wilderness Church in Indiana to the quickly growing, late 19th century Church that came about under the leadership of Bishop Francis Silas Chatard.
So much happened from the death of Brute to the time of Chatard, it could fill a book of its own, and it did, in Sister Mary Carol Schroeder’s “The Catholic Church in the Diocese of Vincennes 1847-1877.
Getting back to the title of this post, July find the following events.
-
July 16th marks the 168th anniversary of the resignation of Bishop Celestine de la Hailandiere in 1847. The Bishop that everyone loves to hate saw the writing on the wall and realized he could no longer govern the diocese, especially in the strict manner that he chose.
July 22nd marks the 193rd anniversary of the priestly ordination of Bishop John Stephen (Jean Etienne) Bazin in 1822 in his home diocese of Lyon, France.
