September 25, 2009
Celebrating 100 years of parish life
Sacred Heart Church in Vincennes is concluding a year of celebration on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the parish establishment.
Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger will be the principal celebrant, along with the pastor, Father Jason Gries, and previous pastors.
The Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. local time., and be followed by a dinner at Vincennes University’s Robert Green Activities Center for approximately 250 parishioners and guests.
At the dinner, the Mayor of Vincennes, Alen Baldwin, will read a proclamation honoring the parish for its service to church and community.
A recent article in the Vincennes Sun-Commercial described the early days of the parish, noting that “Prosperity, muddy streets, and long walks to Mass led Fathers Louis Gueguen, pastor of the Old Cathedral, and Meinrad Fleischmann, pastor of St. John’s, to purchase most of a ‘cow pasture’ bound by Second, Reel, Day, and Eberwine Streets as the potential site for a new Church on the city’s North side for a then high cost of $1,430.
“Father John A. Becher, then an assistant pastor at St. John’s, was directed by Bishop Silas Chatard, the Bishop of Indianapolis and of the Diocese of Vincennes, ‘to look up the Catholic families of that locality and the prospects for the organization of a new congregation.’
“On December 15, 1908, Bishop Cha-tard created Sacred Heart Parish and named Father Becher as its founding pastor. Within three weeks, Father Becher had formed a building committee, and a parish of 65 families was born.
“By Fall 1910, the first church and school building, the rectory, and the convent had been constructed at a combined cost of approximately $37,000.”