INDIANAPOLIS, ARCHDIOCESE OF

Established originally as the Diocese of Vincennes in 1834, the see was transferred to Indianapolis (Indianapolitana ) in 1898 and became an archdiocese in 1944. In the year 2001 it comprised 38 counties and the township of Harrison, Spencer County (13,757 square miles), in the southern part of Indiana. There were 227,501 Catholics, about ten percent of the total population (2,359,104). The ecclesiastical Province of Indianapolis includes the other Indiana dioceses: Evansville, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Gary, and Lafayette.

From 1834, when Vincennes was established as a separate diocese, it was governed by the following prelates: Simon Gabriel Brute, S.S. 1834–d. 1839; Celestine de la Hailandiere, 1839–r. 1847 [d. France, 1882]; John S. Bazin, 1847–d. 1848; Maurice de St. Palais, 1849–d. 1877; Francis Silas Chatard, 1878–d. 1918; Joseph Chartrand, 1918–d. 1933; John Elmer Ritter, 1934–1946 [St Louis, d. 1967]; Paul G. Schulte, 1946–r. 1970 [d. Feb. 17, 1984]; George J. Biskup, 1970–r. 1979, [d. Oct. 17, 1979]; Edward O'Meara, 1979–1992; Daniel M. Buechlein, OSB, 1992—.

Diocese of Vincennes. French traders established a fort at Vincennes in 1752 and subsequently it became a the residence of French missionaries. In 1789, after the American Revolution it became part of the newly created Diocese of Baltimore. Later it was transferred to the see of Bardstown, Ky., when that diocese was established in 1808. John Leo Champomier, resident pastor from 1823 to 1831, constructed St. Francis Xavier Church, which became the cathedral when Vincennes was established as a diocese in 1834, and it was there that Simon brutÉ, was installed as the first bishop, Nov. 5, 1834. Work on the cathedral was completed in 1841.

In the beginning the Diocese of Vincennes included all of Indiana and, before Chicago was made a separate diocese in 1843, the eastern part of Illinois. Although several missionaries were laboring in the diocese, only one priest was permanently attached to it. Bruté made a trip to Europe where he was able to recruit 18 missionaries, including a number of Eudists that enabled him to establish a college and seminary. Bruté died June 26, 1839.

Hailandière. Celestine de la Hailandière, who had been vicar-general, succeeded Bruté as the second bishop of Vincennes. The apostolic brief that appointed Hailandière, gave him the option of establishing his residence either in Vincennes, Madison, Lafayette, or Indianapolis, but the See city was to remain Vincennes. He was consecrated in Paris on Aug. 18, 1839, returning to Vincennes with additional clerical help and promises by the Sisters of Providence and the Congregation of Holy Cross, both of the Diocese of Le Mans, France, to send sisters to Indiana. In 1844, Hailandière summoned a diocesan synod, and three years later in 1847, and returned to France (where he died in 1882).

St. Palais. The third bishop of Vincennes was Stephen Bazin of Mobile, Ala., but he died after less than a year in office (Oct. 24, 1847–April 23, 1848), and was succeeded by Maurice de St. Palais. At the time of his appointment in 1849, St. Palais, who had been vicar-general by Apostolic Brief, was allowed to establish the episcopal residence at Vincennes, Madison, or Indianapolis (Lafayette was not an option) as long the See city remained Vincennes. During St. Palais' long tenure (1849–1877) the Catholic population, swelled by German immigrants, increased rapidly. Early in his episcopate St. Palais went to Europe (1851–52) and secured an agreement by the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Einsiedeln, Switzerland, to establish a foundation at St. Meinrad (1854) in Spencer County. In 1867 Benedictine sisters from Covington, Ky., established Immaculate Conception Convent and later an academy in nearby Ferdinand.

When Cincinnati was elevated to the status of an archdiocese in 1850, Vincennes became a suffragan see in the newly constituted the Province of Cincinnati. In 1857, in response to a petition of the first provincial council of Cincinnati, the Holy See established the Diocese of Fort Wayne to include the counties across northern tier of the state, thereby, confining the Diocese of Vincennes to the southern part.

The period after the Civil War saw the growth of Terre Haute, Evansville, and Indianapolis. The Church of St. John was built in Indianapolis and the Church of the Assumption in Evansville. Railroads contributed to the development of Terre Haute where in 1872 the Conventual Franciscans were placed in charge of the parishes of St. Joseph and St. Benedict. Also in 1872 the Sisters of Charity of Emmitsburg opened St. Mary Hospital in Evansville (1872). The Sisters of Providence, who had managed a hospital during the war, conducted St. John Infirmary in Indianapolis, and in 1873 the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd established their foundations. In 1875 the Franciscan friars of the St. Louis Province established a monastery and Sacred Heart parish in Indianapolis. Also in 1875 a diocesan weekly, the Indiana Catholic and Record, was begun.

Chatard. When Francis Silas chatard, St. Palais' successor, was appointed the fifth bishop of Vincennes in 1878, he was directed to fix his episcopal residence in Indianapolis, while the cathedral and the title of the see continued at Vincennes. Later, by an Apostolic Brief dated March 28, 1898 the title of the diocese changed to Diocese of Indianapolis, making it the episcopal see. The same brief directed that St. Francis Xavier, the patron of the old cathedral in Vincennes, was to remain as the patron of the Diocese of Indianapolis. In 1906 SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral was built in Indianapolis, complete except for the façade, which was added in 1936.

During Chatard's tenure in office, diocesan synods were held in 1878, 1880, 1886, and 1891, and many of the measures affected the clergy. Chatard sent a number of seminarians to Europe for study, established irremovable rectors, diocesan courts, and deanery conferences; ordered an annual collection for aged and infirm priests; encouraged a Clergy Relief Union, organized in 1894; and founded a St. Michael Society to ensure Masses for deceased clerics. He secured permission for the use in the diocese of the Calendar of the city of Rome, necessitating a special Ordo that developed into a Year Book.

Chartrand. Chatard was bishop for four decades, but in 1910 Joseph Chartrand, was appointed coadjutor. Chartrand became Bishop of Indianapolis when Chatard died in 1918. Chartrand promulgated the decrees of Pius X regarding Holy Communion with enthusiasm and success. He was zealous in promoting vocations to the priesthood. In 1921 the Daughters of Isabella opened St. Elizabeth Home in Indianapolis for working girls, and the Knights of Columbus of Indiana founded Gibault Home for delinquent boys near Terre Haute. Conducted at first by diocesan priests, this last institution was given to the charge of the Brothers of Holy Cross in 1934. In 1926 the Sisters of Providence opened Ladywood School in Indianapolis, which superseded the academy at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. Several high schools were built throughout the diocese, including Reitz Memorial High School, Evansville, and Cathedral High School, Indianapolis.

Margaret Mary Hospital, conducted by the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis of Hartwell, Ohio, was opened in Batesville, Ind., in 1932. The Carmelite Monastery of the Resurrection, founded in New Albany, Ind., in 1922, was reestablished in Indianapolis in 1932, and members of this monastery founded the Carmel of St. Joseph in Terre Haute in 1947.

Ritter. New Albany-born Joseph E. Ritter, was named auxiliary bishop in Indianapolis and upon Chartrand's death a year later succeeded him as ordinary. Ritter became the first archbishop of Indianapolis when, by decree of Pope Pius XII in December 1944, Indianapolis was made a metropolitan see. Despite the economic depression of the 1930s, Ritter enlarged the diocesan curia, instituted three new deaneries, and several new offices and committees, including a superintendent of schools, a Church music commission, and a rural life board, and reorganized Catholic Charities in the diocese. He also established a number of new parishes and missions, but the action for which he gained national attention was the initiative he took in integrating the Catholic schools.

Schulte. When Ritter was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1946, he was succeeded by the Paul C. Schulte who had been Bishop of Leavenworth, Kansas. Among the most pressing local problems that Schulte faced was the rapid increase of population, largely an urban phenomenon, coupled with the growing need of vocations. In 1951, 11 priests of the archdiocese were in the armed forces. More than half of the new parishes he founded were located in Indianapolis and environs; he redrew parish lines, eliminating most of the national parishes; and directed that all parish records be microfilmed. Building plans included the erection and enlargement of schools, but the relative shortage of religious required the assistance of many lay teachers and the diocesan clergy. As a result, he supported the graduate education of clergy so that they could teach in the growing Catholic secondary schools.

Biskup. Archbishop Schulte attended the sessions of Vatican II and after the Council began implementing its directives. Reaching 80 in 1970, he resigned leaving the completion of the task to his successor Most Reverend George J. Biskup who had been appointed as coadjutor in 1967. Before coming to Indianapolis Biskup was auxiliary bishop in Des Moines after serving in the Congregation for Oriental Rites.

O'Meara. Archbishop Biskup resigned in March 1979 (he died a few months later, October 17) to be succeeded by Bishop Edward O'Meara, an auxiliary in St. Louis and, since 1967, National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He remodeled Cathedral Grade School and turned it into the Catholic Center housing archdiocesan offices. Archbishop O'Meara gave priority to the development of priestly spirituality. He died Jan. 10, 1992.

Buechlein. The Most Reverend Daniel M. Buechlein, OSB, a monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey and rector of St. Meinrad School of Theology until he was consecrated bishop of Memphis, Tenn., in 1987, was installed as Archbishop of Indianapolis in July 1992. He immediately confronted the task of insuring the financial stability of the archdiocese, and finding a way to staff the parishes and schools in the face of the dwindling number of priests and religious. The first he accomplished by cutting staff and urging increased giving; there was no ready solution for the latter. He has continued the support and development of priestly spirituality and the continuing education of priestly spirituality and the continuing education of the clergy begun by his predecessors.

Bibliography: h. a. alerding, A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Vincennes (Indianapolis 1883). c. blanchard, History of the Catholic Church in Indiana, 2 v. (Logansport, Ind. 1898). t. t. mcavoy, The Catholic Church in Indiana, 1789–1834 (New York 1940). j. h. schauinger, Cathedrals in the Wilderness (Milwaukee 1952).

[r. gorman/eds.]