Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

During the 17th century, present day Ohio was part of the French colony of New France. The Diocese of Quebec had jurisdiction over the region. However, unlike other parts of the future American Midwest, French missionaries made no attempts to found Catholic missions in Ohio.

In 1763, Ohio Country became part of the British Province of Quebec, forbidden from settlement by American colonists. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation. In 1787, the Ohio area became part of the Northwest Territory of the United States. Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.[4][5]

In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky, with jurisdiction over the new state of Ohio along with the other midwest states.[6]

Cincinnati's first Catholic church, Christ Church, was organized in 1819, just beyond the city boundaries.[7] The first Catholic church in Dayton, Emmanuel Church, opened in 1837.[8] Soon additional parishes were formed in Hamilton and St. Martin, Brown County. Reverend Emmanuel Thienpont pioneered many parishes in the archdiocese.[9] Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Cincinnati on June 19, 1821, taking all of Ohio from the Diocese of Bardstown.[10] The pope named the missionary Reverend Edward Fenwick as the first bishop of Cincinnati.[11] Fenwick travelled to Europe in 1823 to raise funding for the new diocese. He returned in 1826 with resources to begin construction of the cathedral and parochial schools He also founded convents for the Sisters of Charity and the first community of Dominican women in the United States, the Dominicans of St. Catharine.[12]

In 1829, Fenwick established St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Cincinnati. It is the oldest seminary west of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States.[13] In 1831, Fenwick initiated publication of The Catholic Telegraph newspaper.[14] That same year, he opened the Athenaeum in Cincinnati to educate lay workers.[15]

After Fenwick died in 1832, Pope Gregory XVI named Reverend John Purcell as the second bishop of Cincinnati. At the time of his installation, the diocese had only one Catholic church to serve thousands of new Catholic German and Irish Immigrants. Purcell founded Holy Trinity Parish in Cincinnati in 1834, the first German language church in the diocese.[16][17] It was followed in 1842 by the dedication of St. Mary's Church, the oldest existing parish in Cincinnati.[17]

Purcell began construction of Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1846.[18] Seeking a larger seminary to replace St. Francis Xavier, Purcell in 1851 constructed Mount St. Mary's of the West Seminary on Price Hill in Cincinnati. To staff the new seminary and school, Purcell invited the Jesuit Fathers into the diocese.[19] He also established two orphan asylums: St. Aloysius's for German-speaking children and St. Peter's for English-speaking children.

In 1847, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Cleveland, taking northeastern Ohio from the Diocese of Cincinnati[10] However, the border line set by the Vatican line cut through multiple counties. To simplify administration of these counties, Purcell and Bishop Louis Rappe of Cleveland, decided that:

...the counties of Mercer, Auglaze, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Knox, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Jefferson, which belong to the diocese of Cincinnati shall constitute the northern boundary of the diocese of Cincinnati. And that all the counties north of those just named, shall compose the diocese of Cleveland. Holmes county, which is for the greater part south of the line above traced, is by mutual consent, assigned to the diocese of Cleveland.[20]

In 1850, Pope Pius IX elevated the Diocese of Cincinnati to an archdiocese with the dioceses of Louisville, Detroit, and Cleveland as its suffragans.[10] Purcell became the first archbishop of Cincinnati.

In 1853, Purcell alienated some of Cincinnati's Protestants by arguing that Catholics should not be taxed to support public schools.[21] Later that year, he created controversy when he invited Cardinal Gaetano Bedini, the emissary of Pope Pius IX, to visit Cincinnati. Many German Protestant "Forty-Eighters", who had fled Europe after the failed revolutions of 1848, saw Bedini as a symbol of oppression due to his role in putting down a revolution in the Papal States in 1849. They organized a protest march to Purcell's residence, where Bedini was staying, on Christmas Day 1853. When the demonstrators clashed with police, several were injured and one died.[22]

The Vatican in 1868 erected the Diocese of Columbus from the archdiocese, taking "the territory from the Ohio River to the Scioto River ... together with the Counties of Franklin, Delaware and Morrow."[10] The end of Purcell's long tenue as bishop and archbishop was marked by scandal. Many parishioners in the archdiocese, distrustful of banks after the Panic of 1873, had begin depositing funds with the archdiocese for safekeeping. These funds ultimately amounted to $3.6 million. However, the archdiocese fund was hit with a bank run in 1877, rendering it insolvent and unable to pay back all the depositors.[23]

In 1880, Bishop William Elder of the Diocese of Natchez was appointed coadjutor archbishop in Cincinnati by Pope Leo XIII to assist Purcell. After Purcell died in 1883, Elder automatically became archbishop.[24]

Elder became archbishop when the archdiocese was facing severe financial problems. Elder systematically organized the administration of the diocese. He reopened Mount Saint Mary Seminary in 1887, which had been closed since 1879.[25] He instituted the office of chancellor of the diocese and insisted on annual reports from clergy and parishes in order to bring the diocese out of great debt. In 1891, after 14 years of litigation, a court found that the archdiocese owed $140,000 to parishioners who had lost money during the 1877 bank run. Elder accepted the verdict in 1892 and assessed parishes to replay the debt in full.[23]

St. Monica Church in Cincinnati served as the cathedral from 1938 to 1957.

Bishop Henry K. Moeller of Columbus was named coadjutor archbishop in Cincinnati by Pope Pius X in 1903. When Elder died in 1904, Moeller succeeded him as the fourth archbishop of Cincinnati.[26] During World War I, Moeller successfully petitioned Rome for an end to national parishes and permission to formulate parish boundaries. In 1921, Moeller condemned several forms of dancing (including the shimmy and camel walk) as well as bare female shoulders at social functions.[27] He died in 1925.

Bishop John T. McNicholas of the Diocese of Detroit was appointed the fourth archbishop of Cincinnati by Pope Pius XI in 1925.[28] During the 1928 presidential election, which featured the first Catholic to win a major party nomination in the person of Al Smith, McNicholas addressed concerns that Smith would take orders from church leaders in Rome in making decisions affecting the country by declaring, "We, as American Catholics, owe no civil allegiance to the Vatican State."[29] In 1945, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Columbus, taking the eastern counties from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.[30]

After McNicholas died in 1950, Pope Pius XII named Bishop Karl Alter of Toledo as the next archbishop of Cincinnati.[31] During his administration, Alter established 98 churches, 94 elementary schools, 14 high schools, 79 rectories, and 55 convents.[32] He also instituted a priests' senate and an archdiocesan school board composed of lay members, and encouraged the formation of parish councils. Alter undertook a restoration of Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral.[32] He discontinued first grade in the parochial schools in 1964 because of high costs and overcrowded classrooms.[33] Alter retired in 1969.

Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Downtown Cincinnati

Bishop Paul Leibold of the Diocese of Evansville succeeded Alter as archbishop, being named by Pope Paul VI in 1969.[34] Leibold strengthened the priests' senate, the pastoral council, and the parish councils. He also launched the archdiocese's sixth synod, Synod '71.[35] In 1958, Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil, an Ohio nun, claimed to have seen apparitions of Mary, mother of Jesus and messages from St. Joseph. Leibold, who had previously acted as a spiritual advisor to Neuzil, allowed her to publish two pamphlets about her experiences.[36] He also commissioned a wooden plaque with an image of Our Lady of America, a title of Mary, for display at the New Riegel convent.[37] In 1971, Leibold criticized composer Leonard Bernstein's theatrical work Mass, terming it as offensive.[38]

After Leibold died in 1972, Paul VI appointed Bishop Joseph Bernardin, general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, as the next archbishop of Cincinnati. During his tenure, Bernardin worked to improve relations between Catholics and Jews and strove for better understanding between the Catholic Church and Protestant denominations. He became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1982.

To replace Bernardin in Cincinnati, Pope John Paul II selected Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati in 1982.[39] In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Dennis Schnurr of the Diocese of Duluth as coadjutor archbishop in Cincinnati to assist Pilarczyk. When he retired in 2009, Schnurr automatically replaced him.[40] In 2010, Schnurr revoked archdiocese permission for a "Violence Against Women" event at Seton High School in Cincinnati because one of the speakers supported abortion rights for women. The sponsors disinvited the speaker, but the archdiocese still denied its support for the event.[41]

In May 2020, Schnurr decided not to renew the contract of Jim Zimmerman, a teacher at Archbishop Alter High School in Kettering, because Zimmerman was part of a same-sex marriage. A teacher at the school for 23 years, Zimmerman had been open about his marriage with school officials, other faculty and students. According to Zimmerman, his principal told him that a community member had alerted Schnurr about the marriage. Zimmerman's supporters accused Schnurr of homophobia, which he strongly denied.[42][43][44]

In July 2021, Schnurr said that he disapproved of a town hall being held by President Joe Biden at Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati, but admitted he had no power to block it. Schnurr did not explain his reasoning.[45] Schnurr said that he would have never approved this event on archdiocese property.[46]

In October 2021, Schnurr announced a plan for the restructuring of the archdiocese that could closed 70% of its churches.[47] Parishes were to be grouped into "parish families" overseen by a single pastor. In the long term, each parish family was expected to merge its parishes into a single parish. Reorganization plans were scheduled to be finalized in 2022.[48]

As of 2023, Schnurr is the current archbishop of Cincinnati.

Reverend Thomas Brunner was removed in 1985 from his post as chaplain at Mount Notre Dame High School in Cincinnati after admitting to accusations of sexual harassment from two female students. After counseling, he was assigned to a different parish. In 1989, a woman accused Brunner of sexually abusing her when she was in high school. Brunner passed a psychological evaluation and was kept in ministry. In September 2003, while his background was being reviewed by the child protection review board, Brunner abruptly resigned his pastoral post at St. Patrick Parish in Troy.

In 1991, Reverend George Cooley from Guardian Angels Church in Mount Washington, pleaded guilty to sexually molesting four boys during the 1980s. The parents of two of Cooley's victims complained to the archdiocese, but nothing happened. They finally reported Cooley to the police in 1990. Cooley served three months in jail, then 15 more months after violating his probation. He was laicized by the Vatican soon after his conviction.[49][50] In November 2003, following a sexual abuse scandal and two-year investigation by the Hamilton County prosecutor's office, Archbishop Pilarczyk entered a plea of nolo contendere regarding five misdemeanor charges of failure to report allegations of child molestation from the 1970s and 1980s.[51] The court fined archdiocese $10,000.[52][53]

The diocese in 2013 started receiving complaints about the conduct of Reverend Geoff Drew, then posted at Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Liberty Township. Witnesses reported seeing Drew give back rubs and make inappropriate remarks to teenage boys. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph R. Binzer received the complaints, but did not forward them to Bishop Schnurr or take any actions against Drew. Binzer received more complaints about Drew in 2015, but did nothing.[54]

When Drew transferred to St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish in Green Township in early 2018, Binzer did not tell the parish or its school about the previous accusations. In July 2018, Drew was accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old boy. It was at this junction that Schnurr allegedly became aware of Drew's background. In August 2019, Schnurr removed Binzer from his position as head of priest personnel.[54] In May 2020, the Vatican accepted Binzer's resignation as auxiliary bishop in Cincinnati.[55]

In August 2019, police arrested Drew and charged him with nine counts of sex abuse while serving as a music teacher at St. Ignatius School.[56][57][58] He pleaded guilty in December 2021 and was sentenced to seven years in prison.[59]

1. Edward Fenwick (1822–1832)
2. John Baptist Purcell (1833–1850), elevated to Archbishop

1. John Baptist Purcell (1850–1883)
2. William Henry Elder (1883–1903; coadjutor archbishop 1880–1883)
3. Henry K. Moeller (1903–1925; coadjutor archbishop 1903)
   - Joseph Chartrand (Appointed 1925, did not take effect)
4. John Timothy McNicholas (1925–1950)
5. Karl Joseph Alter (1950–1969)
6. Paul Francis Leibold (1969–1972)
7. Joseph Bernardin (1972–1982), appointed Archbishop of Chicago (Cardinal in 1983)
8. Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1982–2009)
9. Dennis Marion Schnurr (2009–present; coadjutor archbishop 2008–2009)

• Sylvester Horton Rosecrans (1861–1868), appointed Bishop of Columbus
• Joseph H. Albers (1929–1937), appointed Bishop of Lansing
• George John Rehring (1937–1950), appointed Bishop of Toledo
• Clarence George Issenmann (1954–1957), appointed Bishop of Columbus
• Paul Francis Leibold (1958–1966), appointed Bishop of Evansville and later Archbishop of Cincinnati (see above)
• Edward Anthony McCarthy (1965–1969), appointed Bishop of Phoenix and later Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of Miami
• Nicholas Thomas Elko (1970–1985)
• Daniel Edward Pilarczyk (1974–1982) appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati (see above)
• James Henry Garland (1984–1992) appointed Bishop of Marquette
• Carl Kevin Moeddel (1993–2007)
• Joseph R. Binzer (2011–2020)

• John Martin Henni, Bishop and later Archbishop of Milwaukee (1829–1843)
• Henry Damian Juncker, Bishop of Alton (1834–1857)
• Joshua Maria Young, Bishop of Erie (1838–1853)
• John Baptist Lamy, Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico and later Bishop and Archbishop of Santa Fe (1838–1850)
• James Frederick Bryan Wood, Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop and Archbishop of Philadelphia (1844–1857)
• John Henry Luers, Bishop of Fort Wayne (1846–1857)
• Caspar Henry Borgess, Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Detroit (1848–1870)
• Richard Gilmour, Bishop of Cleveland (1852–1872)
• John Quinlan, Bishop of Mobile (1852–1859)
• Augustus Toebbe, Bishop of Covington (1854–1869)
• Joseph Gregory Dwenger, Bishop of Fort Wayne (1859–1867)
• Henry Richter, Bishop of Grand Rapids (1865–1883)
• Francis Beckman, appointed Bishop of Lincoln and later Archbishop of Dubuque (1902–1923)
• Urban John Vehr, Bishop and later Archbishop of Denver (1915–1931)
• Francis Augustine Thill, Bishop of Salina (1920–1938) (He became Bishop of Concordia in 1938, and was still in office there when the diocese name was changed from Concordia to Salina in 1944.)
• Anthony John King Mussio, Bishop of Steubenville (1935–1945)
• Christopher Cardone, Bishop of Auki later Archbishop of Honiara (1986-1988)
• John Joseph Kaising, Auxiliary Bishop for the Military Services, USA (1962–2000)
• Robert Daniel Conlon, Bishop of Steubenville and later Bishop of Joliet (1977–2002)
• Earl K. Fernandes, Bishop of Columbus (2002–2022)

• Carl J. Ryan (1941–1964)[84][85]
• Herman H. Kenning (1970–1974)[86]
• Kathryn Ann Connelly (1983–2002)[87][88]
• Joseph Kamis (2002–2010)[89]
• Jim Riggs (2010–2015)[90]
• Susie Gibbons (2015–present)

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati publishes a monthly magazine, The Catholic Telegraph. Founded as a weekly newspaper in 1831, it is the oldest diocesan newspaper and second oldest Catholic newspaper in the United States. The Telegraph converted to a magazine format in 2020. Its defunct sister newspaper, Der Wahrheitsfreund, was the first German Catholic newspaper in the country.

The national magazine St. Anthony Messenger is published in Cincinnati by the Franciscan Friars with the archdiocese's ecclesiastical approval.

Several area Catholic radio stations, owned by separate entities, serve the archdiocese:

• WNOP 740 AM Licensed to Newport, Kentucky. "Sacred Heart Radio" plus a sister station
• WHSS 89.5 FM in Hamilton, a repeater of WNOP.
• WULM 1600 AM located in Springfield "Radio Maria" (based at KJMJ in Alexandria, Louisiana) serving portions of the Dayton area: a fifty-mile radius in the daytime. (ten mile radius at night) plus a sister station:
• WHJM 88.7 FM licensed in Anna, transmitting from Botkins with a live studio located in Minster. It serves a forty-mile radius within the Upper Miami Valley and southern portions of the Lima area. Radio Maria also streams on the internet
• WLRU-LP 106.9 FM in Hillsboro.

Other stations reach into portions of the archdiocese:

• WVSG 820 AM located in Columbus "St. Gabriel Radio" (the former WOSU (AM)).
• WRDF 106.3 FM licensed in Columbia City, Indiana with studio in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as "Redeemer Radio" plus an audio stream.