Archives of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis

Designed by Terre Haute native William Wooten, who moved to Indianapolis in 1870, the Wooten Desk is a 19th Century home office that reveals more than 100 slots, drawers, and shelves when opened. Called an “ingenious device” and a “perfect model of convenience” in the 1876 Wooten catalogue, this desk is located in the rectory of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The St. Joseph Shrine at Saint Meinrad Archabbey was dedicated in 1949. The statue was carved by Brother Herman Zweger, OSB. Br. Herman spent 1000 hours carving the statue, which weighs 1405 pounds. The shrine is located near the Anderson River on Camille Road, about a mile east of the monastery.

The dedication activities included a procession from the abbey church to the shrine, during which time Fr. Walter Sullivan, OSB, traveled alongside the procession in a truck equipped with a loudspeaker reading "The Story of St. Joseph" to the pilgrims as they walked.

Upon arrival at the shrine, it was blessed by then-Abbot (later Archabbot) Ignatius Esser, OSB. The blessing was followed by an outdoor Mass, at which Abbot Esser preached a homily titled "St. Joseph: Man's Helper." Photo Credit: Saint Meinrad Archabbey website, https://www.saintmeinrad.org/the-monastery/art-and-architecture/outdoor-sculptures/

Today is the feast of St. Philip Neri. St. Philip Neri Parish in Indianapolis was founded in 1909 to serve Catholics on the east side of Indianapolis. Its parishioners were originally Irish and German but are now largely Hispanic. The parish celebrated its centennial in 2009: http://www.archindy.org/criterion/local/2009/07-31/philipneri.html

The Indianapolis 500 is coming up this weekend! 🏁 The archdiocese has a strong connection to this important local event, most notably through a priest or the archbishop offering the invocation before the start of the race since the 1970s.

What led to a priest or archbishop offering the invocation at the Indianapolis 500 likely had its origin in the Catholic roots of the Hulman-George family, who were the longtime owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Anton "Tony" Hulman, who purchased the racetrack in 1945, was born in Terre Haute and attended the former St. Benedict School there. Tony Hulman's grandfather, Herman Hulman, Sr. established the former St. Anthony Hospital in Terre Haute.

Tony Hulman's daughter, Mari Hulman George, attended St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and founded the Center for Equine Studies there. When she died in 2019, it was found that she had several of the stained glass windows from the chapel of the former St. Anthony Hospital in storage. The windows were donated back to the Franciscan Sisters, who had staffed the hospital. The sisters had the windows them restored and added to the St. Joseph Chapel of the new Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital in 2023.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson will be offering the invocation at the race again this year, so be sure to listen for him before the drivers start their engines this Sunday. We pray for the safety of the drivers, pit crew members, and all those attending the Indy 500 in our city this week.

St. Jude Church in Spencer was dedicated in 2000. Ground was broken for a new church building just around the corner from the original church on October 25, 1998. The original church building is now the Paul M. Dede Parish Center.

Happy 156th Birthday to Bishop Joseph Chartrand, born on May 11, 1870, in St. Louis. He began his seminary studies in St. Louis, and was sent to Saint Meinrad Seminary by Archbishop Kenrick in 1888. He must have decided he liked Indiana, because he incardinated into the Diocese of Vincennes in February 1892. Chartrand was ordained a priest on September 24, 1892, after receiving a dispensation from Bishop Chatard to be ordained at such a young age. He was immediately assigned as associate pastor at the new SS. Peter and Paul Parish (now the cathedral) in Indianapolis, and as secretary to the bishop.

Fr. Chartrand rose quickly through the ranks, becoming rector of the cathedral in 1905, supervising the construction of the main cathedral church, and then becoming vicar general and coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis in 1910. He founded Cathedral High School in 1918. Bishop Francis Silas Chatard died in 1918, and Chartrand became the new Bishop of Indianapolis.

Bishop Chartrand was known for being active at the Cathedral parish and helping his parishioners, especially with gifts of money. He encouraged frequent reception of Holy Communion and also frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation to prepare for it. He spent hours each week in his confessional. He loved to give people small booklets of prayers for before and after communion. We still have some of those booklets in the archives.

Bishop Chartrand received several honors, including an appointment as Assistant at the Papal Throne with the rank of Roman count by Pope Pius XI, and an appointment as Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy by King Victor Emmanuel III. On December 8, 1933, Bishop Joseph Chartrand died following a heart attack at the cathedral rectory.

Bishop Chartrand's legacy lived on after his death. On December 8, 1954, Archbishop Paul C. Schulte dedicated the Bishop Chartrand Memorial Chapel at Marian College (now Marian University) in Indianapolis. Bishop Chartrand High School was dedicated by Archbishop Schulte on September 30, 1962. In 1969, the school merged with Kennedy Memorial High School to create Roncalli High School. Commemorative Masses were celebrated for the 30th and 50th anniversaries of Bishop Chartrand's death, in 1963 and 1983. In 2019, Bishop Chartrand was inducted into the Cathedral High School Circle of Excellence.

The Diocese of Vincennes was established 192 years ago, when Simon Bruté was named as its first bishop, and the territory of the diocese, which originally included the entire state of Indiana and the eastern third of Illinois, was outlined. The Diocese of Vincennes was the twelfth diocese to be established in the United States.

However, the Vincennes diocese had been in the works for much longer. Sister Mary Salesia Godecker, OSB, in her biography of Simon Bruté, indicated that the “frontier bishops” desired further western dioceses to organize scattered Catholics. However, they were concerned that the new dioceses not be established until there was plan for supporting them financially.

In 1832, the Bishop Benedict Flaget of Bardstown, Kentucky, and Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, made a proposal to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Vincennes to be established. This proposal was discussed at the society’s Special Congregation of Propaganda on American Affairs on February 25, 1833. The plan was tabled at that time, but Simon Bruté was chosen to be the Bishop of Vincennes if the diocese was ever actually erected.

However, the proposed Diocese of Vincennes was again discussed at the Second Provincial Council of Baltimore in October 1833, and three choices for bishop presented: Fr. Simon Bruté of Mt. St. Mary Seminary, Fr. Anthony Blanc of the Diocese of New Orleans, and Fr. Mathias Loras of the Diocese of Mobile. The provincial council sent their recommendations back to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and this time, their recommendation for the establishment of the Diocese of Vincennes was approved.

The diocese operated in Vincennes until the appointment of Bishop Francis S. Chatard in 1878. By that time, Indianapolis was by far the largest city in Indiana, and Bishop Chatard lived in the city, despite the seat of his diocese being in Vincennes. On March 28, 1898, following Bishop Chatard’s request, the Diocese of Vincennes became the Diocese of Indianapolis. On October 21, 1944, Indianapolis was raised to the status of an archdiocese. Vincennes was re-established as a titular see on June 20, 1995.

Today, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson is attending the installation of Bishop-elect Godfrey Mullen, OSB, as bishop of Belleville, Illinois. The bishop-elect has a connection to Indiana because he is a monk of Saint Meinrad. He served in parishes in the Diocese of Evansville before serving in the Belleville diocese. Since the appointment of Bishop Michael McGovern of Belleville as the sixth Archbishop of Omaha in March 2025, Bishop-elect Mullen has been serving as administrator of the diocese.

However, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis shares an additional connection with the Diocese of Belleville, which is our diocesan "great-grandchild." When the Diocese of Vincennes was created in 1834, it included all of Indiana and the eastern portion of Illinois. In this drawing, our first bishop Simon Bruté sketched the territory of his diocese.

The western portion of Illinois, where Belleville is located, was part of the Diocese of St. Louis. When the Diocese of Chicago was formed from Vincennes in 1843, it then encompassed the entire state of Illinois, including the area that had previously been part of the Diocese of St. Louis.

In 1853, the Diocese of Quincy, Illinois was created from the Diocese of Chicago. In 1857, Pope Pius IX suppressed the Diocese of Quincy and erected the new Diocese of Alton, keeping the same boundaries. . In 1887, the Diocese of Belleville was created from territory belonging to the Diocese of Alton. Finally, the Alton diocese moved to Springfield in 1923.

Sacred Heart Church in Indianapolis was significantly damaged by an electrical fire in 2001. The fire destroyed the high altar & reredos. It also caused major damage to the centennial altar consecrated in 1991, the ceiling, many statues and paintings, stained glass windows and the organ.

The church was restored over the next eighteen months at a cost of more than four million dollars. The restoration process involved a lead architectural firm as well as a local architect. The interior redecoration was completed by Conrad Schmitt Studios of Milwaukee, who had undertaken the decoration of Sacred Heart Church in 1936. The wooden items, including the reredos, were restored by Weberding Carving Shop of Batesville.

The parish also took advantage of the restoration work in the church to complete some additional projects, which were funded by a parish capital campaign. These projects included the air conditioning of the church and the Franciscan friars' chapel, the construction of a restroom, repair of the church steeples, and the installation of a new fire alarm system.

While the restoration work was being completed, the parish held Sunday Masses in the parish hall, and weekday Masses in the friars' chapel. The first Mass was celebrated in the restored church on December 1, 2002. The church was rededicated by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein on February 16, 2003.

While the fire in 2001 was the most damaging, it was not the first fire to impact the church. One of the steeples was struck by lightning in 1891, and a fire occurred in the sacristy in 1930.

The Fashion for Followers event, sponsored by the Indianapolis Archdiocese Council of Catholic Women was held around 1980 and featured several local women in Biblical-inspired costumes named after character qualities. These Polaroid photos were taken at the event and feature:
Nanette Quiambo as Pharoah’s Daughter (Compassion)
Linda Evans as the Queen of Sheba (Wisdom)
Diane Alderding as Leah (Contentment)
Dee Weber as Noah’s wife (Patience)
Joan Marie McGowan as Miriam (Patriotism)
Rita Ennis as Rehab (Faith)
Val Fillenworth as the Blessed Mother (Nobility)
Ellen Sullivan as Lydia (Confidence)
Carol Ann Denton as Naomi (Devotion)
Emily Perkins as Rispah (Courage)