John Henry Oechtering

John Henry Oechtering (also John H. Oechtering ; born December 23, 1845 in Lingen (Ems) , Kingdom of Hanover ; † January 1942 in Riesenbeck ; actually Johannes Heinrich Oechtering ) was a German - American Roman Catholic clergyman .

The later prelates appointed priests worked in the Diocese of Fort Wayne where he 1903-1927 vicar general was. He has also emerged as a theological writer and playwright.

Live and act

Family and education

Johannes Heinrich Oechtering was one of the sons of Clemens Oechtering and his wife Maria née Grotemeier. He grew up in his hometown of Lingen, where he also went to school and at the age of twelve attended the Georgianum high school. The family later emigrated to Riesenbeck, which at the time belonged to Prussia . In 1858 Johannes Oechtering continued his school education, upbringing and theological training in Münster at the Collegium Borromaeum , which was established in 1854 and where he stayed for seven years, and then studied for two years at the Westphalian Wilhelms University .

Oechtering decided to go to North America to take part in pastoral care for the numerous German Catholics who had emigrated there. That also had family backgrounds. His cousin August Bernard Oechtering (born September 8, 1837 in Rheine , † December 27, 1898 in Fort Wayne ), who emigrated in 1858, was already active there as a pastor. And his sister Marie (Mary) A. Oechtering married the businessman William N. Schindler in 1889, who operated his milling company in Mishawaka . In preparation for his work in the USA, Johannes Oechtering entered the American College of Louvain in Leuven in 1867 as a candidate for the priesthood . On May 21, 1869, he was ordained a priest by the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mechelen , Victor-Augustin-Isidore Dechamps , and in the same year sent to the young diocese of Fort Wayne in the state of Indiana . He now anglicized his first names to John Henry .

The first years in the diocese of Fort Wayne

For a year John Oechtering was assigned to the faithful in Elkhart as a pastor , but lived in neighboring Mishawaka, where his cousin August Bernard Oechtering was pastor at the time. His next area of ​​operation was LaPorte County , which only had about 27,000 inhabitants in 1870. There he was pastor of St. Joseph's Church in La Porte for ten years.

Father Oechtering had St. Mary's Catholic Church built in Otis in 1873 .

In this function, Father Oechtering was also responsible for the Catholics in Otis . As the first priest ever, he visited the place - at the time also known as Salem Crossing - and its surroundings. The local population, who professed the Roman Catholic faith, consisted in 1870 of about 54 families of Polish descent and two or three families of German descent. Pastor Oechtering had the first church, St. Mary's Catholic Church, built there in 1873. He also made sure that Reverend Francis X. Szulak SJ from Chicago came there several times a year so that the families of Polish descent could receive the sacraments . Shortly afterwards, Reverend Peter Koncz became the first pastor who also lived in Otis.

Pastor of St. Mary's Parish for 47 years

In 1880 John H. Oechtering was appointed pastor of the St. Mary Parish in Fort Wayne . There he worked - appointed in 1888 by Bishop Joseph Gregory Dwenger CPpS the "Irremovable Rector " of this church - for 47 years. During this time he had to have the church rebuilt. Because on January 13, 1886, the steam boiler under the church building built in 1858/59 exploded and devastated it, as did the pastorate. Two people were killed in the accident. Pastor Oechtering and his congregation were not discouraged by this tragic event and shortly afterwards set about building a new, larger church. The new building in the neo-Gothic style cost $ 100,000. The altar consecration by Bishop Dwenger was on the third Sunday of Advent in 1887. However, for safety's sake, the heating system was housed in a separate building south of the church.

In addition, Father Oechtering had a new pastorate built in 1886 and the old schoolhouse replaced by St. Mary's Academy in 1892. In 1903 a new boys' school was built not far from the church. In 1907 the parish had 2,196 members in 488 families. Reverend Oechtering made sure that community life developed not only externally visibly through buildings, but also within through the establishment of a whole series of new church groups and associations. At times, the clergyman served as a moderator for the Fort Wayne Dean's Office .

In the diocese leadership

But Pastor Oechtering also took on important positions in the diocese leadership. Among other things, he was judge at the matrimonial court for the diocese , archiepiscopal school visitator and president of the school board. Not least because of his financial talents, Bishop Alerding appointed him in 1903 as vicar general ("Vicar General") of the diocese of Fort Wayne. Oechtering accepted on condition that he could keep his office as pastor. As Vicar General he was also significantly involved in numerous projects of the diocese, including the construction of the Catholic Community Center (CCC) in Fort Wayne, which was completed in 1927. After the death of Bishop Alerding on December 6, 1924, he also headed the diocese until the introduction of Bishop John Francis Noll on June 30, 1925.

In addition, Oechtering made a name for himself as an author. He published the treatise Capital and Labor (1887). His catechism Catechism of Church History for the Higher Grades of Catholic Schools, first published in 1899, was a standard work for many years . The tenth edition of this textbook for secondary schools appeared in 1938. In addition, Reverend Oechtering wrote a number of plays , such as the dramas Hermenegild , William Tell , St. Cecilia - Virgin and Martyr and King Saul , the comedy The Living Statue and the farce The Discovery of America .

In recognition of his services, Pope Pius X awarded him the honorary title of papal house prelate in 1905 . He was the only prelate in the entire diocese.

Return to Germany

The Right Reverend Monsignor remained active for his diocese until he was 82 years old, but at the same time kept in contact with his German homeland. In April 1927 he traveled to Germany with his sister to find help for his poor health. When his health deteriorated significantly in the fall of 1927, he was no longer able to make the arduous journey home to the United States. He therefore decided to resign from his offices as vicar general and pastor of St. Mary and to spend his old age with his nephew in Riesenbeck . There he celebrated his diamond jubilee in 1929 and his 70th jubilee in 1939. In 1928 he donated a heater for the parish church of St. Kalixtus to the parish. His sister Mary Schindler had already donated a new organ for the church in 1923.

Shortly after his 96th birthday, Prelate Johannes H. Oechtering died in January 1942. He found his final resting place in the family crypt.

literature

• Herman Joseph Alerding : The Right Rev. Mgr. John H. Oechtering, VG In ders .: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, pp. 62–63 ( as digitized version )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Date of birth according to Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, p. 62 ( as digitized version )
2. ↑ according to another source, his birthday is December 31, 1845; see: NN: Prelate Oechtering in memory . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from January 28, 1967
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, p. 63 ( as digitized version )
4. ↑ cf. see Anderson & Cooley: South Bend and the Men Who Have Made It. Historical, Descriptive, Biographical. Tribune Printing, South Bend 1901, p. 428 ( available in digital form here )
5. ↑ ^{a b c} N.N .: Prelate Oechtering in memory . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from January 28, 1967
6. ^ Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, p. 335
7. ^ Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, p. 228 ( as digitized version )
8. ^ Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, p. 230 ( as digitized version )
9. ^ Joseph M. White: Worthy of the Gospel of Christ. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Diocese and Catholic Life in Northern Indiana . Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Fort Wayne 2007, ISBN 978-1-59276-229-3 , p. 179
10. ↑ a reprint is available from Nabu Press 2010, ISBN 978-1-143-66383-3 , among others
11. ^ Herman Joseph Alerding: The Diocese of Fort Wayne 1857 - September 22, 1907. A Book of Historical Reference 1669-1907 . [Volume 1]. Archer print. Co., Fort Wayne 1907, pp. 62–63 ( as digitized version )
12. ^ Joseph M. White: Worthy of the Gospel of Christ. A History of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Diocese and Catholic Life in Northern Indiana . Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Fort Wayne 2007, ISBN 978-1-59276-229-3 , p. 271
13. ↑ on these donations cf. NN: The Kalixtus parish church in Riesenbeck . Special page "Home and Life" in: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from April 8, 1961