Pioneer Bishops of Indiana

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Indiana up to 1900.  For more information about Indiana, see my blog of September 20, 2019.

French explorers and fur traders, such as Robert Cavalier (La Salle) and Louis Jolliet, accompanied by Franciscan (e.g., Louis Hennepin) and Jesuit (e.g., Jacques Marquette) priests likely came to Indiana in the 1660s and 1670s.  A Jesuit priest, Claude Allouez, established a mission on the St. Joseph River in 1680 near what is now Niles, Michigan, to minister to the Miami tribe on both sides of the current day state line.  By 1733, the French had established outposts at current day South Bend, Fort Ouiatenon [near Lafayette], Fort Miami [Fort Wayne], and Poste au Oaubache [Vincennes].  St. Francis Xavier church was established in Vincennes in 1749 and is the oldest Christian church in Indiana.

Indiana became part of the United States in 1783 following the American Revolution.  The Northwest Territory, which included current day Indiana, was established in 1787, and a separate Indiana Territory (which included modern day Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan and Minnesota) was established in 1800, with Vincennes as the capital.  Indiana became the 19th State in 1816 at which time there were about 500 Catholics in the state, mostly of French ancestry.  The original French Catholics were soon joined by English Catholics from Kentucky, and German and Irish Catholics.

Indiana came under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky [now the Archdiocese of Louisville] after its creation in 1808.  Pope Gregory XVI made Indiana its own diocese (the Diocese of Vincennes, now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) in 1834.  Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Fort Wayne in 1857 to serve northern Indiana.  Francis Chatard, upon becoming Bishop of Vincennes in 1878, moved to Indianapolis, which had become the capital of Indiana in 1825 and was by this time the largest city in the state.  The name of the diocese was changed to the Diocese of Indianapolis in 1898.  Pope Pius XII, in 1944, elevated Indianapolis to an Archdiocese and created new dioceses at Lafayette and Evansville, and in 1957, created the Diocese of Gary.  In 1960, the name of the Diocese of Fort Wayne was changed to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Simon G. Brute was born in France in 1779 and graduated from medical school in 1803.  Upon graduation, he immediately enrolled in one of newly reopened seminaries following the French Revolution.  He was ordained a Sulpician priest in 1808.  He met Benedict Flaget, the new Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky (now the Archdiocese of Louisville), and accompanied Flaget to the United States in 1810.  He spent many years in Maryland, including as a pastor on the Eastern Shore, as pastor and teacher at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, where he also served as spiritual director to Elizabeth Ann Seton, and in Baltimore at St. Mary’s College where he served as president.

Bruté was appointed the first Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana (now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) in 1834.  His diocese covered the State of Indiana and part of Illinois and he had only three priests to help him.  He became a U.S. citizen in 1835 and went to Europe and returned the following year with 20 priests and seminarians to serve the 25,000 Catholics in the Diocese.  Brute raised enough money in Europe to finish St. Xavier Cathedral, and build a seminary, school, and orphan home.  He traveled frequently throughout his vast Diocese celebrating Mass, administering the Sacraments, and meeting with his priests.  He also sent a priest to evangelize the Potawatomi people.  Bishop Brute died in 1839 and has been declared a Servant of God—the first step toward canonization.  Brute was known for his holiness and intelligence.  President John Quincy Adams said the Brute was “the most learned man…in America.”

Celestine de la Hailandiere was born in France in 1798 during the French Revolution.  He was baptized by a priest hiding in his father’s house.  He eventually became a lawyer and for a time served as a judge.  He decided to enter the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1825.  La Hailandiere met Bishop Brute in 1836 in France, and la Hailandiere accompanied Brute to the United States later that year.  The Diocese of Vincennes (now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) included all of Indiana and eastern Illinois but had few Catholics.

La Hailandiere was appointed coadjutor bishop of Vincennes in May 1839 and became Bishop of Vincennes the next month upon Brute’s death.  La Hailandiere invited the Congregation of the Holy Cross to establish a college near South Bend (now the University of Notre Dame) and the Sisters of Providence to establish what is now St. Mary-of-the-Woods College near Terre Haute.  (The Sisters were led by Theodore Guerin, now a canonized saint.)  In 1843, the Illinois part of the Diocese was given to the new Diocese of Chicago.  For whatever reason, la Hailandiere had difficulty getting along with others including the clergy and religious in his Diocese and for this reason, he resigned as Bishop and returned to France in 1847.  He died in 1882 and his body, as he had requested, was returned to Vincennes for burial.

John S. Bazin was born in France in 1796 and ordained in Lyon in 1822.  He came to Mobile, Alabama, in 1830 and worked to instruct youth in the Faith.  He eventually became vicar general of the Diocese of Mobile and successfully brought in the Jesuits to administer Spring Hill College and the Brothers of the Christian Schools to operate an orphanage.  He was named Bishop of Vincennes in 1847.  Bishop Bazin settled relations with diocesan clergy and religious sisters that had deteriorated under Bishop la Hailandiere and improved seminary training by merging a struggling Catholic college with the diocesan seminary.  He also initiated plans to build an orphanage.  Bishop Bazin died on Easter Sunday 1848 of pneumonia, after serving only six months as Bishop.  

Maurice de Saint-Palais was born in France in 1811 and ordained a priest in Paris in 1836.  He was recruited by Bishop Simon Brute to come to America.  Within two months of his ordination, he came to Vincennes and started serving in parishes within the Diocese.

De Saint-Palais was named Bishop of Vincennes in 1848.  During his time as bishop, de Saint-Palais oversaw the growth in the Diocese from 30,000 to 80,000 Catholics and 35 to 104 priests.  This growth is even more significant given that at the time he became Bishop, his Diocese covered all of Indiana and at the time of his death, only the southern half.  He also invited Benedictine monks from the Swiss Abbey of Einsiedeln, to visit Indiana.  This led, in 1856, to the establishment of St. Meinrad Archabbey, the first Benedictine institution in the United States.  De Saint-Palais invited other religious orders to administer hospitals and parishes.  He also established a weekly Diocesan newspaper and an orphan home, but closed the Diocesan seminary.  It had become apparent to Bishop de Saint-Palais that Indianapolis had become a more important city than Vincennes, but he left the decision to move to his successor.  Bishop de Saint-Palais died in 1877.

Silas Francis Chatard was born in Baltimore in 1834.  Both his father and his grandfather, who had come to Baltimore from what is now the Dominican Republic, were physicians.  Chatard himself was a physician in Baltimore before deciding to become a priest.  He attended seminary in Rome and was ordained in 1862.  He was immediately named vice-rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and in 1868 became Rector.  Chatard favorably impressed Pope Pius IX who sent him back to the United States as Bishop of Vincennes in 1878.  Chatard, for whatever reason, switched his first names at that time to become Francis Silas Chatard.

Chatard moved to Indianapolis shortly after being installed as Bishop of Vincennes.  Indianapolis had become the largest city in Indiana with over 100,000 people and was centrally located, whereas Vincennes only had 10,000 people.  The Vatican officially transferred the Diocese to Indianapolis in 1898.  As bishop, Chatard sent some of his seminarians to be trained in Europe and established a fund for retired priests.  He also encouraged Catholic lay organizations and chaired four diocesan synods.  Bishop Chatard suffered a stroke in 1899 which eventually led to his death in 1918. 

John H. Luers was born in what is now Germany in 1819 and moved with his family to Ohio in 1831.  His father was a store clerk and Luers was known for not being religious and leading a “wild” life.  A meeting with John Purcell, the Bishop of Cincinnati, changed the direction of Luers’ life and he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1846.  Luers was assigned to St. Joseph’s parish in Cincinnati and it soon became the largest German parish is the city.  Luers was appointed the first Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1857.

Bishop Luers traveled extensively throughout his diocese celebrating the Holy Eucharist as often as possible.  He established an orphan home (for children who lost both parents during the Civil War), a hospital, and other Catholic institutions and a fund to support elderly and infirm priests.  He built the current Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne and brought a number of German priests and nuns to serve the Diocese.  He oversaw growth in the Diocese from 20,000 Catholics and 20 churches to 50,000 Catholics in 75 churches.  He was an articulate defender of the Faith, especially in regard to Catholic schools.  Bishop Luers died from a stroke in 1871 while on a trip to Cleveland.

Joseph G. Dwenger was born in Ohio in 1837 and was given by his dying widowed Mother to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood who raised and educated him.  He later joined the Missionaries and was ordained a priest for the Missionaries in 1859.  Dwenger served as seminary rector, pastor, traveling evangelist in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and theologian to the Archbishop of Cincinnati.  He was appointed Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1872.

Bishop Dwenger was a strong advocate of parochial schools and established a diocesan school board.  He also established several homes for orphans—as he himself was orphaned at a young age—and he improved the financial condition of the Diocese.  He led the first American pilgrimage to Lourdes (in 1874) and traveled four times to Rome.  Dwenger was partially responsible for convincing the U.S. State Department to block the planned confiscation of the American College in Rome by the Italian government.  He also helped establish St. Joseph’s College near Rensselaer.  Bishop Dwenger died in 1893, not long after his fourth trip to Rome.

Joseph Rademacher was born in Michigan in 1840 to German immigrant parents.  He attended seminary in Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1863.  He served as a pastor in the Diocese for the next twenty years before being named Bishop of Nashville in 1883 and was named Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1893.  Like in Nashville, he increased the number of churches, schools, and other institutions within the Diocese, and remodeled the Cathedral in Fort Wayne.  A stroke forced Bishop Rademacher to give up the daily management of the Diocese in 1899 and he died in 1900 in a Chicago hospital.  Bishop Rademacher was noted in both dioceses for his intelligence and breadth of knowledge on many subjects, as well as for his charitable works and kindly disposition, despite being in ill-health during his time both Nashville and Fort Wayne.