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His Excellency, The Most Reverend John Henry Luers
Bishop of Fort Wayne
Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Diocese of Fort Wayne
In office	January 10, 1858 to June 29, 1871
Successor	Joseph Gregory Dwenger
Orders
Ordination	November 11, 1846
Consecration	by James Whitfield
Personal details
Born	(1819-09-29)September 29, 1819 Münster, Westphalia, Germany
Died	June 29, 1871(1871-06-29) (aged 51) Cleveland, Ohio, US
Nationality	German
Education	Athenaeum of Ohio

Styles of John Henry Luers
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	not applicable

John Henry Luers (September 29, 1819 – June 29, 1871) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana from 1858 until his death in 1871.

Biography

Early life

Luers was born on September 29, 1819, near Münster in the Kingdom of Westphalia (now part of Germany). His family emigrated to the United States in 1831, settling on a farm near Piqua, Ohio. John Luers worked a store clerk in town. According to contemporary accounts, Luers, as a young man, was not religious and led a wild life. His father severely admonished him for neglecting his prayers.

In 1835, Luers' outlook towards Catholicism and service to others changed after meeting Archbishop John Baptist Purcell. Luers soon decided to become a priest. Purcell sent him to St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Cincinnati.

Priesthood

Luers was ordained a priest by Purcell for the Diocese of Cincinnati on November 11, 1846. After his ordination, Luers was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's parish in Cincinnati. While there, he finished construction of the church and constructed several schools while eliminating the parish's debts. It soon became one of the largest and most important German congregations in the city.

Bishop of Fort Wayne

Pope Pius IX appointed Luers as the first bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne on September 22, 1857. He was consecrated in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 10, 1858, by Archbishop James Whitfield. "In the evening, at nearby St. Joseph Church, Luers’ parishioners hosted a reception for their longtime pastor. On this occasion, they presented him with a mitre, crosier, pectoral cross, bishop’s cassock, ambry with episcopal seal, three pairs of pontifical shoes, and $1,200."

In 1863, Luers held a synod of priests in the diocese at the University of Notre Dame in which he established the laws and constitution for the diocese. Luers attended the Second Plenary Council in Baltimore in 1866.

As bishop, Luers founded several new parishes and missions, established an orphanage, and built a cathedral. In 1868, due to the large German-speaking population in the diocese, he invited the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (PHJC) of Dernbach / Westerwald, a German religious order, to come to the diocese. The sisters established St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne in 1869. In 1868, Luers established an orphanage in Rensselaer, Indiana, for children who had lost their parent during the American Civil War.

Death and legacy

In June 1871, during a vacancy of the See of Cleveland, Luers traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to ordain a seminarian. While returning to the Cleveland train station on June 29, John Luers suffered a fatal stroke. He was age 51. Bishop Luers is buried in the crypt at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

At the time of Luers' death, the Diocese of Fort Wayne had 69 priests, 75 churches, ten chapels, one hospital, one orphan asylum, one college, 11 academies for girls, 40 parochial schools, and a Catholic population estimated at 50,000. The Franciscan Order founded Bishop Luers High School in 1958 in Fort Wayne.

References

1. ^ Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John (1888). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. D. Appleton.
2. ^ Alerding, H. J., The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857-September 22, 1907, A Book of Historical Reference, 1669-1907, Fort Wayne: The Archer Printing Co. 1907, p. 30
3. ^ Hammer, Bonaventure. "Fort Wayne." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 20 October 2022 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. Marlin, Jodi. "Items used by early bishops on loan to Diocesan Museum", Today's Catholic, December 18, 2019, Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend
5. "Bishop John Henry Luers [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
6. Bishop Luers High School

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Fort Wayne". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

• Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend
Bishops	Ordinaries John Henry Luers Joseph Gregory Dwenger Joseph Rademacher Herman Joseph Alerding John F. Noll Leo Aloysius Pursley William Edward McManus John Michael D'Arcy Kevin C. Rhoades Auxiliary bishops Joseph Robert Crowley John Richard Sheets Daniel R. Jenky
Churches	Cathedrals Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne St. Matthew Cathedral, South Bend Basilica Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame Parishes St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Avilla St. Mary's Catholic Church, Huntington St. Adalbert Church, South Bend St. Casimir Church, South Bend
Education	Higher education Ancilla Domini College, Donaldson University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne Holy Cross College, Notre Dame Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame High schools Bishop Dwenger High School, Fort Wayne Bishop Luers High School, Fort Wayne Marian High School, Mishawaka St. Joseph High School, South Bend
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v t e Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Auxiliary bishops Sylvester Horton Rosecrans Joseph H. Albers George John Rehring Paul Francis Leibold Edward A. McCarthy Nicholas Elko Daniel Edward Pilarczyk James Henry Garland Carl K. Moeddel Joseph R. Binzer Priests John Martin Henni Edward Fitzgerald Clarence George Issenmann Henry Damian Juncker Joshua Maria Young John Baptist Lamy James Frederick Wood John Henry Luers Caspar Henry Borgess Richard Gilmour John Quinlan Augustus Toebbe Joseph Gregory Dwenger Henry Richter Francis Beckman Urban John Vehr Francis Augustine Thill Anthony John King Mussio John Joseph Kaising Robert Daniel Conlon Michael William Warfel Earl K. Fernandes
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• 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
• 1819 births
• 1871 deaths
• German emigrants to the United States
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• Roman Catholic bishops of Fort Wayne
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