October 29, 2010
Putting Strategic Planning into context
The First Fifty Years: Part VI — Deepening Awareness
Editor’s note: This article is the ninth 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)
Deepening Awareness — 1970 through 1974 . . .
Bishop Francis R. Shea was named Third Bishop of the Diocese of Evansville on December 10, 1969, by Pope Paul VI. He was ordained a bishop and installed as head of the twelve county area of southwestern Indiana on a snowy 3rd of February 1970,
The new bishop assumed the reins of the Diocese of Evansville, now grown to 82,600 faithful, with 118 diocesan priests, 33 men religious and 48 seminarians. There were 80 parishes, including mission churches, 39 elementary parochial schools taught by 254 women religious and 314 lay teachers. St. Benedict College in Ferdinand counted 200 students; there were seven high schools, diocesan and parochial, and one private academy. Total enrollment in Catholic schools (elementary and secondary) amounted to 14,185.
During the early years of Bishop Shea’s tenure, these events occurred:
- The diocese participated in the Statewide effort for Aid to Non-public Schools;
- The Campaign for Human Development was initiated by Catholic Charities.
- In 1970, the Second Annual Diocesan Convention, “Doers of the Word,” was held in the Civic Center Auditorium in Evansville, with emphasis on the need for lay participation in the life of the Church.
- The Diocesan Communications Office was established.
- The Buildings and Lands Committee was established.
- The Secretariat on Worship was established.
- The Outpost (near Lincoln State Park) was put in operation by the Vocations Office.
- The Sisters Senate began to function as a channel of communication and a vehicle of representation for women religious in the diocese.
- The Message, diocesan weekly, began publication.
- The Clerical Medical and Retirement Association was formed.
- The Catholic Education Foundation became operative.
- The provincial headquarters of East Central Province of the Daughters of Charity had established itself on Evansville's far West Side.
- In 1972 the Leadership Conference of Women Religious of Indiana and Michigan was conducted in Evansville.
- In Cannelburg, the Diocesan Rural Life Conference was held.
- The Permanent Deacon Program was taking shape.
- The Old Cathedral in Vincennes was elevated to the rank of Minor Basilica.
- Campus Ministry was founded at Indiana State University, Evansville.
- The new building at Providence Home in Jasper was completed and dedicated.
- The new structure of St. John's Home for the Aged (Little Sisters) was completed in Evansville.
The early 1970s also brought about the end of some institutions:
- The operation of St. Vincent Orphanage in Knox County was discontinued during this period.
- Rex Mundi High School and Magistedr Noster Latin School, both in Evansville, were closed in 1972.
- Nativity School was closed in Evansville in 1892.
The early 1970s also saw the death of the first and second bishops of Evansville, Bishop Paul F. Leibold in Cincinnati, on June 1, 1972, in Cincinnati; and Bishop Henry J. Grimmelsman, on June 30, 1972, in Evansville.
Bishop Leibold was just 57; Bishop Grimmelsman, 81.
By the end of 1974, plans to preserve the John A. Reitz Home were completed. This property in Evansville, near the Ohio riverfront, was conveyed to the Reitz Home Preservation Society to be maintained as a museum which would be open to the public as an example of beautiful architecture of an earlier era (built in 1871), and would stand as a memorial to the beneficence of the Reitz-Fendrich families to the people of southwestern Indiana. It would also serve as a landmark, the residence of the first Bishop of the Evansville Diocese, and thereby contribute to the heritage of historic Evansville.
From then until now: Institutions and trends in the diocese
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
In 1970, there were 118 diocesan priests and 48 seminarians, according to Msgr. Clinton Hirsch, in The First Fifty Years.
In 1990, the Diocesan Yearbook and Directory reported a total of 114 priests. There were 10 seminarians in theology studies, and nine more in college.
In 2010, there are 75 diocesan priests, of which 24 are retired. Seven seminarians are in college and theology studies.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Many of the develpments of the early 1970s have a familiar ring. For example, the efforts to provide financial assistance to Catholic school students and their families continue today.
Scholarship Granting Organizations
In 2010, the Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), for southern Indiana is now legally named the Tuition Assistance Fund of Southwestern Indiana and has received final approval from the Internal Revenue Service and the Indiana Department of Education.
The Tuition Assistance Fund of Southwestern Indiana, Inc is a state tax credit program designed to assist low and middle income families in attending the eligible private school of their choice. Funding will come from private, charitable donations to the scholarship fund. Donors (individuals or corporations) are eligible to take advantage of a 50 percent credit against their state tax liability.
Margaret Boarman is executive director for the organization.
Catholic Education Foundation of Southwestern Indiana
Catholic Education Foundation applications are available for parents wishing to apply for tuition assistance for their children to attend either Mater Dei or Reitz Memorial High School.
Tuition grants are awarded on the basis of financial need. Names of applicants and awards are confidential.
Since its establishement, CEF has provided more than $2 million in tuition assitance.
Christian Educational Foundation of Vincennes
The Christian Educational Foundation in Vincennes is an organization interested in preserving Catholic Education in Vincennes, according to the CEF website. Its sole function is raising funds to support Catholic Education, grades K-12 in Vincennes. The not-for-profit corporation is committed to raising over $250,000 each year.
CATHOLIC CAMPUS MINISTRY
Among other developments in the diocese is the establishment of Catholic Campus Ministry at the University of Southern Indiana, the University of Evansvllle and Vincennes University.
Father Bernie Lutz started the Newman Center in Vincennes and helped to initiate the Indiana Newman Foundation in the 1960s, and started campus ministry at what was then ISU-Evansville in 1972.
Father Lutz, now retired, continues to serve as director of ministry to priests.
Father Tony Kissel was engaged in campus ministry, at the diocesan level and both at the University of Evansville and USI, from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. In 1996, Father Kissel was released from the diocese to teach and minister at St. Leo University in St. Leo, Fla,
Direction of campus ministry was handed to the diocessan offfice of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, first headed by Michael Eppler, and now by Steve Dabrowski
Christine Hoehn is diocesan coordinator and campus minister at USI; Mike Roesch is the campus minister at UE. A search committee has been formed for the position at VU.
Catholic Campus Ministry information is available on the web at www.evdio.org, where Campus Ministry is one of the tabs available. Activities are listed at each of the campuses served, with time, locations and contact information.
Religious Communities
Little Sisters
The Little Sisters of the Poor continue to serve the poor elderly at their location in Evansville.
The community recently celebrated the canonization of St. Jeanne Jugan, the foundress.
Providence Home
Providence Home was founded by the Sons of Divine Providence in the 1930s, starting in the 1880 building that had been Jasper College, purchased from St. Meinrad. The new building was completed in 1973, and blessed by Bishop Francis R. Shea.
In 1997, it became Providence Home Health Care Center, to emphasize its purpose in providing long term care.
Father Angelo Quadrini is the superior, the last of his community to serve in that capacity. He divides his time between his home in New York and his ministry in Jasper.
David McDaniel is the center’s director.
Don Louis Orione, founder of the Sons of Divine Providence, was canonized in 2004.
Daughters of Charity
The East Central Province is headquartered on the far west side of Evansville.
Facilities at the site also include Seton Residence, a home for about 65 Senior Sisters of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
The property also is the site of Seton Harvest, a community supported agriculture project.