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The Catholic Diocese of Columbus just celebrated its 150th birthday in March. Inspired by a Curious Cbus question from David Patrick, we decided to delve into the history of Catholicism in Columbus.
Pope Pius IX approved the Diocese on March 3, 1868. But what led to its existence, and how the Diocese evolved afterwards, are far more interesting.
鈥淭he history of Catholicism is really tied to the history of Columbus,鈥� says Father Joshua Wagner, the pastor of two churches in Columbus.
Roots
When the U.S. celebrated its independence in 1776, the country had only about 30,000 Catholics among 4 million people, according to Patrick Mooney in .
鈥淭he story of Catholics in Ohio, from a tiny minority to a significant presence, in many ways parallels the development of Ohio and our nation,鈥� wrote Mooney, who was also the former chair of the Catholic Record Society.
Now, Catholics consist of of the American population. In 2014, of Ohioans were Catholic.
And in Columbus, there are currently .
But in the early 1800s, Ohio Catholics did not have a priest or clergy to help them practice their faith. The country also only had one Diocese in Baltimore, led by Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the U.S.
The Dittoe family from Somerset, Ohio (in today鈥檚 Perry County), asked Bishop Carroll to send their German Catholic community a priest.
There was one nearby in Bardstown, Kentucky, so Bishop Caroll summoned Dominican priest Edward D. Fenwick to minister in Ohio.
鈥淭hey had mass in a barn, and eventually, very quickly by 1818, they built the first Catholic Church,鈥� Wagner says.
Named St. Joseph鈥檚 Church, in Ohio.
As immigrants arrived from Europe, Ohio鈥檚 Catholic population grew. Irish Catholics arrived during the early 1800s to flee the potato famine. German Catholics immigrated in the 1830s to avoid political and economic hardships.
鈥淭here are Germans and Irish who do not know any English at all,鈥� Fenwick wrote in a . 鈥淗ence you can well imagine the pains I have to take, and the efforts I have to make to be understood by them and to understand them, and to offer them some spiritual help.鈥�
Since Columbus was then still part of Cincinnati, Fenwick became the first Bishop of Cincinnati. Before he died in 1832, Fenwick managed his enormous Diocese 鈥� which spread all the way to Green Bay, Wisconsin 鈥� founded Ohio鈥檚 first Catholic schools and a newspaper, all while traveling by horseback.
Not all Catholics came from Europe, though. From the 17th to 19th centuries, Catholic missionaries converted Native Americans in the Midwest. Several tribes arrived into Ohio in 1650, and a small group of Mohawks and Onondagas converted to Catholicism.
Later, Columbus would attract African-American and Latino Catholics as well.
A Capital Attracts Immigrants
Once Columbus split from Cincinnati and was of Ohio in 1816, the Catholic population boomed in the city.
Before then, Wagner says, 鈥淐olumbus wasn鈥檛 really that great of a town.鈥�
The city boasted only a few chapels, including St. Remigius Chapel, which could hold 10-20 people.
鈥淲hen Columbus was made the capital city, that鈥檚 when people started coming in,鈥� he says.
St. Remigius was torn down and replaced by Holy Cross Catholic Church, the .
During the 1800s, German and Irish immigrants, and eventually Italians, came to America on the canals and railroads. In Ohio, they quickly formed their own ethnic parishes.
鈥淚n those days, the Germans would have their mass and the Irish would have their mass鈥ecause nobody spoke the same language,鈥� Wagner says.
The Irish north of the Ohio Statehouse; they rapidly outgrew Holy Cross and built in 1853, run by the Dominican Order.
鈥淭he Dominicans faired very importantly in the history of the church in Columbus,鈥� Wagner says. 鈥淎lmost immediately, by 1870, just 15 years after the church was built, the Dominicans took over St. Patrick鈥檚, and they are still there.鈥�
Father Wagner calls the church 鈥淚rish Paradise.鈥�
Similar to the Irish, German Catholics outgrew their church and built in 1865, the third oldest church in Columbus.
After the Columbus Diocese was founded in 1868, Licking County native eventually became the first Bishop of Columbus. He led the building of , but died of a massive stroke the day after the Cathedral was dedicated.
鈥淚t was some party,鈥� Wagner jokes.
When Italian immigrants arrived, they too needed their own parish and in Italian Village in the 1890s.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the national parishes,鈥� Wagner says. 鈥淭hat parish at Italian Village still has an Italian identity to it.鈥�
The last oldest church town is , built in 1896. It originated from a community named Sacred Heart, a diverse parish.
鈥淚t was the one parish that was French, Italian and Hungarian, and it stayed ethnically mixed its entire life,鈥� Wagner says.
Catholic Backlash
鈥淐atholicism in the United States has not always had an easy ride,鈥� Wagner says.
Wagner mentions President John F. Kennedy, who people once believed would be influenced by the Pope.
This was not the first occasion in which people distrusted Catholics, of course. Ohio鈥檚 Catholic population surged in the 19th-20th centuries and was subsequently met by anti-Catholic attitudes, according to Mooney.
Most white Ohioans were Protestant and believed Catholics were more loyal to the Pope than to the United States. They also disliked that Catholics taught their children in parochial schools instead of public, secular schools.
Soon, Catholics became victims of The Know-Nothing Party in the 1850s, named such because it was a 鈥渟ecret organization鈥� whose members, when asked about their affiliation or beliefs, would say, 鈥淚 know nothing.鈥�
The Know-Nothing Party publicly opposed immigrants and Catholics in particular.
鈥淭he party is intended to prevent Catholics and immigrants from being elected to political offices, deny these people jobs in the private sector, arguing that nation鈥檚 business owners needed to employ true Americans,鈥� documented.
The party wielded some power in Ohio, especially in northern cities like Youngstown and Cleveland. For instance, Know-Nothings allied with the Fusionist party, a precursor to the Republican Party, and helped Fusionist win the Ohio gubernatorial election in 1855. Chase later became President Lincoln鈥檚 secretary of the treasury.
Nonetheless, even as Protestants founded the in the 1890s and the Ku Klux Klan ramped up attacks in the 1920s, more and more Catholic immigrants made their way to Ohio and built communities.
Still, compared to large populations in Cincinnati and Cleveland, Wagner says, 鈥淐olumbus hasn鈥檛 been a Catholic town.鈥�
Second Generation Of Churches
The first generation of churches in Columbus, such as Holy Cross and St. Mary鈥檚 in German Village, were more plain and rudimentary by design. As more Catholics arrived, though, the city saw a fundamental shift in the architecture of churches.
鈥淓verything changed and it became not boxes and steeples but magnificent,鈥� Wagner says.
, for instance, has glaze-faced brick, transepts, stain glass windows and double giant towers.
Holy Rosary and others, like in Mt. Vernon, were built by children of immigrants, who had more money and could build nicer churches.
鈥淭he first generation of Catholics built the most basic church that would function,鈥� Wagner says.
In contrast, the second generation of Catholics built opulent churches.
African-American Catholics
In Columbus, about 28 percent of the population is African-American. But the Black Catholic population is small: statewide, 93 percent of Catholics are white while are Black.
Still, African-American Catholics in Columbus boast their own unique history.
St. Dominic primarily has African-American worshippers. According to its website, its story cannot be told without understanding the history of St. Cyprian and 鈥渢he long and arduous struggle of the African American people to be allowed a place in the Catholic Church.鈥�
By the early 20th century, Columbus didn鈥檛 have many Black Catholics, and St. Dominic was primarily populated by Irish Catholics.
It took then-Bishop James Hartley and Saint Katharine Drexel to form St. Cyprian. Drexel was a wealthy heiress-turned-nun who used her fortune to convert and support Natives and African-Americans, especially in Ohio. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to help her in this endeavor.
The Catholic Record Society recounted the story of St. Cyprian in their 2004 bulletin through the eyes of octogenarian Ethel Jennings. Jennings grew up on the East Side of Columbus, where her entire family was Baptist. But racism and segregation led her brothers instead to the Catholic Church.
They attended to Eastwood Elementary in 1931 with only about 12 Black kids in the school.
鈥淭he principal, in my estimation, as I look back on it, she was prejudiced,鈥� Jennings wrote. 鈥淪he wasn鈥檛 really pleased with these little Black kids that were in her school.鈥�
The principal sent Ethel鈥檚 brothers to a 鈥渟pecial鈥� class for 鈥渟low learners鈥� in the basement of the building. So Ethel鈥檚 mother sent the boys instead to Catholic School at St. Cyprian.
鈥淢other Katherine sent her nuns here and they virtually went up and down the street and encouraged people to allow their children to come to their school,鈥� Jennings said.
鈥淎t that time that was the only church where Black people, as Catholics, were welcome,鈥� Jennings said.
If people wanted to become Catholic, they were told to 鈥済o out there on Hawthorne Avenue and see that priest.鈥�
The Jennings boys came home from St. Cyprians and discussed catechism, inspiring Ethel鈥檚 mother to learn what they were learning. Though raised as staunch Baptists, Ethel鈥檚 parents converted to Catholicism.
鈥淭he best way to convert adults is to convert their children,鈥� Wagner says.
In 1957, urban resettlement forced St. Cyprian to close. Irish Catholics left St. Dominic鈥檚 when the Pennsylvania Railroad closed. Bishop Michael Ready combined the two parishes, sending the African-American community to St. Dominic鈥檚.
The first Black Catholics were baptized there in 1958.
Dorothy Ann Blatnica wrote a 1994 documenting African-American Catholics in Cleveland. She argued Black Catholics were perceived as a separate category as white Catholics and often had to reconcile their race with a Catholic identity. Still, Blatnica says that Catholicism offered education, upward mobility and a value system for African Americans.
鈥淭he Catholic church provided an opportunity those kids did not have because Catherine Drexel鈥檚 sisters were directly interested in ministering to the Black population,鈥� Wagner says. 鈥淭hese kids were getting great educations, of course, with a little Catholicism thrown in there.鈥�
Wagner says some of these families are still in his parish, including a .
Latino Catholics
In the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of Latin-Americans began their own wave of immigration to the United States. A majority were Catholic.
The rapid rise of Latino populations changed the landscape of Catholic parishes. In Columbus, 5.3 percent of the population is Latino.
Wagner says Latino Catholics have four communities inside of I-270: Santa Cruz on Patterson Ave., Holy Name Catholic Church; St. Stephens on the West Side; and Christ the King on Livingston Ave.
Christ the King was founded in 1947. In 2001, the pastor allowed a Spanish Mass every Sunday afternoon.
鈥淥nly a few families participated at first. However, steadily, the number of Spanish-speaking parishioners grew over the years,鈥� said Father David Shalk, the current priest of Christ the King, in an email. 鈥淣ow there are approximately 1,000 people attending one of our two Spanish masses at Christ the King every weekend; our church is one of the hubs for Spanish-speaking Catholics in Columbus.鈥�
Like the German Catholic immigrants who forged their own identity, Latino Catholics maintain their culture through their unique parishes.
Impact
Wagner see the impact Catholicism has in Columbus through education and industry.
Ohio Dominican University, for instance, was founded by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs. The , the only pontifical seminary outside of Italy, was founded in Columbus in 1888 by Joseph Jessing for German-speaking Catholics.
Companies like Cardinal Health and Cardinal Transportation are also named after the mascot for St. Charles.
And the influence of Catholics can be seen especially in areas like Italian Village, German Village and Merion Village.
鈥淲e鈥檝e built whole neighborhoods that still have a lot of prominence today,鈥� Wagner says. 鈥淗uge burgs that were built by Catholics, just for Catholics.鈥�
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