Right Rev. Herman J. Alerding  

Right Rev. Herman J. Alerding

Herman Joseph Alerding was born April 13, 1845 in Westphalia, Germany

He then studied at St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown, Kentucky, for a year before returning to Indiana in 1860 and entering St. Meinrad Seminary in Spencer County.

After receiving the tonsure and minor orders in September 1865, Alerding was ordained to the subdiaconate on June 18, 1867, and to the diaconate on the following June 21.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Saint Palais on September 22, 1869. He then served as a curate at St. Joseph Church in Terre Haute, while also attending to several missions throughout Parke and Sullivan Counties.

From 1871 to 1874, he was pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Cambridge City.

He was transferred to St. Joseph Church in Indianapolis in 1874, there overseeing the construction of a church, rectory, and parochial school.

In 1883, he published A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Vincennes.

He was stricken by typhoid fever and took a trip to Europe in 1884.

On August 30, 1900, Alerding was appointed the fourth Bishop of Fort Wayne by Pope Leo XIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following November 30 from Archbishop William Henry Elder, with Bishops Denis O'Donaghue and Henry K. Moeller serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

He presided over a diocesan synod in November 1903.

Alerding died December 6, 1924 (aged 79) Fort Wayne, Indiana He had been in critical condition since he was injured in an automobile accident on Thanksgiving Day.

Source: Wikipedia