September 10, 2010
Putting Strategic Planning into context
The Grimmelsman Years: Part II — Early years of diocese
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series examining the Catholic Church in southwestern Indiana and its leadership and also the trends in the church and in the larger society. (Download this story as a PDF | See other articles in the series)
The following text is taken from a supplement to the diocesan newspaper at the time, the Register of Southwestern Indiana, published on June 10, 1966. The Article, “A time of Growth: Diocese of Evansville 1945-1965,” was published without a byline or credit to a writer.
On Feb. 2 [1945] Bishop Grimmelsman ordained Fathers Clinton Hirsch and Raymond Reising, the first of 58 priests he would ordain in the next 21 years. Soon too he began to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. (The 55,000 children and adults he confirmed as bishop were more than the total Catholic population when he came.)
Bishop Grimmelsman soon gained the reputation for being a “building bishop.” It is easy to see why when one looks at the vital statistics: 50,000 Catholics in 1945, 81,512 in 1965; 7,829 children in Catholic grade schools in 1945, 17,397 in 1965; 1,512 Catholic high school students in 1945 and 4,158 in 1965. Added to this was the mass movement to the suburbs in Evansville.
To accommodate this growing and shifting population 13 new parishes have been founded, seven permanent and many temporary churches built, 33 new grade schools and additions to older schools have been made. Central Catholic high school was reopened in Vincennes in 1947, and greatly enlarged in 1964; Mater Dei in Evansville was built in 1949, St. Ferdinand in 1951, Rex Mundi in Evansville in 1958; St. Rose Academy moved into a completely new facility in 1964; and finally, St. John high school in Loogootee has been enlarged.
To provide well trained priests to serve the diocese, the bishop guided the building of the Magister Noster Latin School. It opened in 1963. Seeing the coming need for a retreat house to deepen the religious life of the people of the diocese he opened the Sarto Retreat House in 1961. To care for the aged and chronically ill the Council of Catholic Nurses recommended that a modern nursing home be built. The 135-bed Regina Pacis Nursing Home was the result. Opened in 1957 it was the first comprehensive nursing care home of its type in the Evansville area.
Magister Noster Latin School for high school seminarians was opened in 1963. It was operated only until 1972.
In the early 1960s, a fourth Evansville Catholic high school was being considered by Bishop Grimmelsman, to serve the growing population in the southeastern part of the city. Planning was halted at the bishop’s retirement.
The Latin School and Rex Mundi were not the only high schools to shut their doors following the Baby Boom of the post World War II years. Historians cite “the pill” and other factors in society as family size declined.
High schools at St. John Church in Loogootee and St. Ferdinand Church in Ferdinand became public schools.
In Vincennes, the Gibault High School was built in 1924 for Catholic males. It closed in 1935 but was reopened in 1947 as Central Catholic High School. Central Catholic became co-educational during the 1970-71 school year when it was joined with the all-female St. Rose Academy. The name was changed to Rivet High School, in honor of Jesuit priest, Jean Francis Rivet. Flaget was established in 1954. Marian Heights Academy, operated by the Benedictine Sisters at Ferdinand, closed its doors in 2000.
Rex Mundi High School, the third Catholic high school in Evansville, was dedicated in 1958. It operated until 1972 when a Catholic school board made the emotional decision, the scars of which remain today. The school is now the site of IVY Tech, which in recent years has expanded and no longer resembles the building it contains.
Sarto Retreat House was dedicated in 1961. The Evansville facility was at times staffed with a director who guided retreats and other activities. Sarto Retreat House shares a 47-acre site in the northern part of Evansville with the former Magister Noster Latin School — now serving as the Catholic Center. Diocesan offices were consolidated at the Catholic Center in 1976; in previous years, offices had been located in the Reitz Home where Bishop Grimmelsman resided, at Assumption Cathedral, and at the Pro-Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, all in Evansville.
Regina Pacis Nursing Home opened in 1957, with funds contributed by parishioners throughout the diocese.
The Regina Pacis Home was deeded to St. Mary’s Medical Center in 1969. The Regina facility closed in November 2003 when St. Mary’s made the decision to end long-term care.
Where we are today
Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger will submit his letter of resignation to Pope Benedict XVI when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 75, on Oct. 20, 2010.
Until the pope accepts his resignation and apppoints a successor, Bishop Gettelfinger will continue with all of the rights and responsibilities of a residential bishop.
He will continue to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation at parishes in the diocese; he will ordain deacons and priests if worthy candidates are presented; he will continue to preside at episcopal liturgies on certain Holy Days and Feasts of the Church.
Ordination--Seminarians Brian Emmick and Jeff Read are scheduled to be ordained to the transitional diaconate on June 18, 2011. In previous years, the diaconal ordination was held late in the year; the June ordination provides a longer period of service.
Diocesan offices--Bishop Gettelfinger’s office is in the Catholic Center — the former Latin School — along with offices for the chancellor, treasurer, judicial vicar, superintendent of Catholic schools, vocations director, director of catechesis, youth ministry director, director of worship, director of communications and director of ministry to priests. The offices of Catholic Charities are located in downtown Evansville. Campus ministry offices are maintained at the University of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University.
Seminary formation--Magister Noster Latin School in Evansville was opened in 1963 for high school seminarians, part of a formation process that was rapidly disappearing throughout the United States. The school closed in 1972.
Seminarians in the diocese today typically complete Catholic or public high school in their home communities; many begin college or complete college.
In the academic year 2010-2011, diocesan seminarians are studying at Bishop Bruté College Seminary at Marian University in Indianapolis and at St. Meinrad School of Theology.
In recent years. seminarians have also completed formation at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisc.
Father Ron Kreilein, now the pastor of St. Mary Church in Ireland, attended Magister Noster Latin School until it closed. Almost 30 years later, he returned to priestly formation, completing studies at Hales Corners. He was ordained a priest in 2007.
Schools and enrollment--Elementary and high school enrollment in 1965 topped 21,000, but even then there were signs of dwindling enrollment and changing demographics. The 2010 enrollment was just over 7,300 and included pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.
Recent developments in Catholic schooling include the establishment of pre-k and kindergarten classes. In 2010, 25 parish schools have reached out to serve younger children.
John Paul the Great High School was established in Jasper in 2009. It is the only private Catholic School in the diocese; enrollment is 15.
School viability--A committee has been formed, as part of the emerging strategic plan, to select the criteria to be used in determining the viability of a parish school. Consolidation is one possible outcome for a school that is judged to be not viable.