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John Luers

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The Right Reverend

John Henry Luers
Bishop of Fort Wayne
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseFort Wayne
AppointedSeptember 22, 1857
Term endedJune 29, 1871
PredecessorOffice established
SuccessorJoseph Dwenger
Orders
OrdinationNovember 11, 1846
by John Baptist Purcell
ConsecrationJanuary 10, 1858
by John Baptist Purcell
Personal details
BornJohann Heinrich Luers
(1819-09-29)September 29, 1819
Lutten, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
DiedJune 29, 1871(1871-06-29) (aged 51)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
SignatureJohn Henry Luers's signature

John Henry Luers (born Johann Heinrich Luers; September 29, 1819 – June 29, 1871) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Fort Wayne from 1858 until his death in 1871.

Early life and education

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Luers was born on September 29, 1819, in Lutten, a town near Münster in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, which is part of the present-day Goldenstedt, in the German state of Lower Saxony.[1] He was the son of Arnold Heinrich and Maria Elisabeth (née Kröger) Luers.[1] In 1833, the family immigrated to the United States, settling on a farm in Piqua, Ohio.[2] They were parishioners at St. Augustine's Church in nearby Minster.[1]

As a teenager in Piqua, Luers befriended Mahlon Dickerson Manson, who later served as a Union general in the American Civil War and a U.S. Representative from Indiana.[2] He first worked as a clerk at a store in Piqua.[1] During this period, he once forgot his prayers at a family gathering. He later recalled, "The subsequent interview between my father and myself was of such a striking nature that I received sufficient reasons to promise to relearn what I had forgotten. It was a sore lesson, but one which I never forgot."[2]

According to a later account by John Baptist Purcell, then Bishop of Cincinnati, Purcell first encountered Luers in 1835: "While on my way to an appointment in Ohio, on horseback, he trudged along on foot beside me, going to church. I secured him a ride behind one of my companions...He stated his desire to study for the priesthood."[3] Luers then studied at St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Brown County.[2]

Priesthood

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Luers was ordained a priest by Bishop Purcell on November 11, 1846.[4] His first and only assignment as a priest was as pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Cincinnati, a parish for German-speaking immigrants.[5]

As pastor, Luers finished the construction of the church at Linn and Laurel Streets, added a parochial school, and eliminated the parish's debt.[2][6][7] He also baptized Henry K. Moeller, the future Archbishop of Cincinnati.[8]

Bishop of Fort Wayne

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Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne, Indiana (2012)

In January 1857, the Diocese of Fort Wayne was erected from the Diocese of Vincennes, comprising the northern half of Indiana.[9] In April of that year, Archbishop Purcell submitted to Rome a terna, or list of three candidates, to serve as the diocese's first bishop—Revs. Luers, Julian Benoit, and Pirmin Everhard.[10] The Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (which then oversaw the affairs of the Church in the United States) nominated Luers on the following August 31,[11] and Pope Pius IX confirmed his appointment on September 22.[4]

Luers received his episcopal consecration on January 10, 1858, from Archbishop Purcell at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, with Bishops Jacques-Maurice De Saint Palais and George Aloysius Carrell serving as co-consecrators.[4] Upon his arrival, the Diocese of Fort Wayne contained 14 priests and 20 churches to serve a Catholic population between 18,000 and 20,000.[12] It also included the University of Notre Dame, run by the Congregation of Holy Cross. By the end of his tenure, the diocese contained 69 priests, 75 churches, and 50,000 Catholics.[12]

Luers laid the cornerstone of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on June 19, 1859, and dedicated it on December 9, 1860.[13] In 1863, he held a diocesan synod at the University of Notre Dame in which he established the laws and constitution for the diocese, including the elimination of trusteeism.[2] In 1868, Luers established an orphanage in Rensselaer, Indiana, for children who had been orphaned during the Civil War. To serve the large German-speaking population in the diocese, he invited the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, a German religious order, to come to the diocese in 1868; the sisters established St. Joseph Hospital in 1869.

Luers attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore (1866), but he did not attend the First Vatican Council (1868–1870) in order to tend to the needs of his diocese.[2]

Death and legacy

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In June 1871, with the Diocese of Cleveland vacant, Luers was invited to confer holy orders on a number of seminarians.[12] On the morning of June 29, after performing the ceremonies, he collapsed from apoplexy on his way to the railroad station.[2] He was taken to a nearby rectory, where he died shortly afterward, at the age of 51.[14]

His Requiem Mass was celebrated by Bishop De Saint Palais at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, with Archbishop Purcell delivering the eulogy. He was buried in the crypt of the cathedral.

The Franciscan Order founded Bishop Luers High School in 1958 in Fort Wayne.[15][failed verification]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Hoying 1982, p. 252
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Clarke, Richard H. (1888). Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States. Vol. II.
  3. ↑ "BISHOP JOHN HENRY LUERS. Funeral Obsequies". The News-Sentinel. July 5, 1871.
  4. 1 2 3 "Bishop John Henry Luers". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney.
  5. ↑ "The History of St. Joseph Catholic Church". St. Joseph Catholic Church.
  6. ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Fort Wayne". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  7. ↑ Alerding, Herman Joseph (1907). The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857-September 1907: A Book of Historical Reference, 1669-1907. Archer Print. Company.
  8. ↑ Hoying 1982, p. 253
  9. ↑ "Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney.
  10. ↑ White 2007, p. 80
  11. ↑ White 2007, p. 81
  12. 1 2 3 Hammer, Bonaventure (1913). "Fort Wayne" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  13. ↑ White 2007, pp. 91–92
  14. ↑ White 2007, p. 120
  15. ↑ "Bishop Luers High School". www.bishopluers.org. Retrieved 2025-10-30.

Sources

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