On the 150th Anniversary of His Birth, We Celebrate a Key Figure of the Church in the 20th Century Bishop John Francis Noll While the universal Church is celebrating the Jubilee Year in 2025, a little closer to home, the year marks two important milestones in the history of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend: the 150th anniversary of the birth and 100th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Archbishop John Francis Noll. While he was known nationally and abroad for his pioneering work in Catholic media, Noll was a priest of our diocese, born in Fort Wayne, baptized and ordained at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception – the fifth bishop of Fort Wayne, and its first and to date only native. A Generous Pastor Born on January 25, 1875, in Fort Wayne, Noll grew up attending the cathedral parish. After completing studies for the priesthood in Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin, at St. Lawrence Seminary and at Mount St. Mary’s of the West Seminary in Cincinnati, Noll was ordained a priest of the then-Diocese of Fort Wayne on June 4, 1898, at Fort Wayne’s cathedral – where his parents were married, and also where he received baptism, first holy Communion and confirmation, and where he would one day be ordained a bishop. Father Noll’s tenure as a parish priest included assignments in Ligonier, Albion, Kendallville, Rome City, Besancon, and Huntington. In the earliest years of his priesthood, Father Noll frequently was sent around the diocese to fill in for ailing pastors, often having to make the best of tricky situations. As a pastor, Father Noll was often given charge of a few mission outposts. At one time, Father Noll had five parishes under his care. Automobiles were a rarity in those days, so he usually traveled by rail. This afforded him cherished time to read and think. But time was truly not his own, as he had no staff, often serving as housekeeper and maintenance man. Because most of the parishes he served were composed of German- or French-speaking families, Father Noll became well acquainted with the needs of immigrant communities. He also often had success in fostering conversions to Catholicism, particularly with the non-Catholic spouses from “mixed marriages,” which were common in his parishes. A Far-Sighted Evangelist With the fortitude and fervor of St. Paul at the Areopagus, on whose feasts Father Noll was both born and ordained a bishop, Father Noll spoke, defended, and made plain the truth at every opportunity. Also like St. Paul, Father Noll was equipped with faith, common sense – and a pen. More than once, Father Noll found himself in parishes where the pastor had departed because of various difficulties with his flock. Despite the challenging situations, he had a knack for bringing calm and fostering peace. With resourcefulness and diplomacy, Father Noll fostered unity and order in fractured parishes. In fact, his first publication was born out of such a situation, offering pastoral wisdom for the average laity of his time, in a small volume called “Kind Words from the Priest to His People.” Thus began Father Noll’s lifelong apostolate of the written word. Anti-Catholicism was prevalent in different forms throughout Father Noll’s life, and his pastoral experience made clear that most of his flock was not well formed in the faith, often left unable to defend Church teaching when opposed by friends or family. Far-sighted and effective in bringing about an informed and engaged laity, Father Noll understood clearly his priestly duty to instill Catholics with the means to grasp the faith in comprehensible ways. He knew a well-informed and energetic laity was the key element in handing on the Church’s message – especially amid the animosity of the time. A Faithful Apologist From early in his priesthood, Father Noll worked to make inroads with Protestants with the hope to overcome misunderstandings long held about Catholicism. As one of the precursors to any formal ecumenical work undertaken by the Church, Father Noll’s pursuit of truth enabled him to see the elements of Christian life dwelling among his Protestant neighbors. He was convinced that a dialogue grounded in truth and charity would overcome any of the divisions that led to the bigotry he encountered. Noll’s early evangelization efforts prompted him to create The Parish Monthly magazine, which many neighboring pastors found quite useful, and soon Father Noll found himself to be a Catholic publisher. Shortly thereafter, Father Noll was one of the founding members of the Catholic Press Association, now Catholic Media Association. In his day, it was not unheard of for itinerant preachers to gather crowds to hear the “truth” about the “papists.” Father Noll was known to attend these gatherings to challenge the speakers and in turn invite attendees to a public lecture on the truth of Catholicism. Some of these false prophets claimed to be former priests who revealed the truth about the Catholic religion. Father Noll might respond with a question only a priest could answer to catch them in a lie. Others went door to door with tracts or mailed out publications filled with vitriol and divisive content, attacking Catholicism or advocating for oppressive and unjust political structures. Father Noll picked up his pen to rebut them point by point. Stained glass portrait of Bishop Noll. These glass panels can be found in the diocesan museum. A Publishing Pioneer The masterpiece of Father Noll’s apostolate was Our Sunday Visitor newspaper, which he founded in 1912. In its first issue, Father Noll expressed its motto: “To be practical and to do good.” As editor, Father Noll was intent on allowing the truth to shine through everything that kept souls from Christ, from anti-Catholicism to racism, or birth control to socialism. Father Noll’s pastoral ingenuity and zeal for souls gained him an international reputation by the time he turned 50. Having caught the attention of officials in Rome, Father Noll was named bishop of his home diocese by Pope Pius XI on May 12, 1925. After his June 30 episcopal ordination, Bishop Noll outlined the need for “more harmonious cooperation from all the people, no matter what their creed or their politics.” Bishop Noll desired to emulate the importance of the faith in fostering this aim: “with charity toward our neighbor, let us begin to pray for one another and to love one another.” But it seemed that, more than anything else, Bishop Noll would have been more content with busying himself with the work of an evangelizing publisher for the rest of his life. “A bishopric does not appeal to me,” Bishop Noll said in an interview following his appointment as bishop. “But there is one mitigating circumstance, and that is the bishopric to which I have been appointed is Fort Wayne. … And I feel that I can keep closer supervision on my work here in Huntington than I could if I had been appointed to some other diocese.” Bishop Noll maintained an active role in Our Sunday Visitor’s ministry until his final days. Through his witty and personable style, and his simple and straightforward writing, Bishop Noll became a household name for more than a million American Catholics. Not long before he died, Bishop Noll wrote to the priests of his diocese in which he recounted the extensive financial assistance Our Sunday Visitor provided to the Fort Wayne diocese, where funds were applied toward expanding the local Church’s educational and charitable efforts and paying off debts of parishes – particularly during the Great Depression. Beyond that, Bishop Noll’s legacy also includes financial support to many rural and poorer dioceses throughout the country, especially through Bishop Noll’s membership on the board of the Catholic Extension Society, as well as to the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Victory, who served as catechists in many American missionary dioceses. A National Leader Held in high esteem by laity and clergy alike, Bishop Noll was also an accomplished churchman recognized nationally for his significant leadership and accomplishments in the United States and beyond. Organization and competence were high on the list of talents peers valued most about Bishop Noll. He was asked to take on positions of leadership at the national level on many occasions. He was a key figure in organizing the National Catholic Welfare Conference – the precursor organization to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – and for many years held the position of its secretary. Christ, the Light of the World Marker As the challenges faced by the Church changed according to the times, Bishop Noll’s brother bishops called upon his courage. He was instrumental in forming the national Legion of Decency in 1933, a watchdog and lobbying arm of the American bishops that had the objective of forcing Hollywood filmmakers to produce more wholesome and decent productions. Catholics would have faced pain of mortal sin if they viewed certain films that the Legion screened and found morally objectionable, offering their own ratings system. The idea was that filmmakers would want to avoid alienating nearly 20 million potential Catholic viewers. With the backing of Our Sunday Visitor, Bishop Noll was instrumental in the construction of two landmarks in Washington, D.C. The first was the statue of “Christ, Light of the World,” which still stands today outside USCCB headquarters. The idea began with a letter Bishop Noll received from a Kansas woman who lamented Christ’s absence amid all the statues and monuments in the nation’s capital. Noll threw his support behind the idea and attracted assistance and funding from the readers of Our Sunday Visitor. The statue’s title is shared with one of the hallmark documents of the Second Vatican Council, and although he died six years before it began, Bishop Noll embodied in advance much of the council’s work throughout his ministry, particularly in the areas of building up the laity and ecumenism. The second landmark was the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., now a minor basilica. Although he did not live to see its completion, Bishop Noll was a tireless advocate for its completion. The shrine’s construction, which began in 1920, came to a halt during the Great Depression and World War II. It stands today as the largest Catholic church in North America, in no small part thanks to Bishop Noll’s interest, support, and vision. Bishop Noll is remembered as the “apostle of the National Shrine,” and a bust memorializes him in the shrine’s crypt level. A Lasting Legacy On behalf of a grateful Church, Pope Pius XII honored Bishop Noll in 1953 by granting him the personal title of “archbishop.” Three years later, Archbishop Noll died in Fort Wayne, after years of failing health, on July 31, 1956. About one-third of America’s bishops attended his funeral, including two cardinals and then-Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, a Catholic media pioneer who used radio and television as much as Archbishop Noll used the written word. Archbishop Noll chose not to be buried among his predecessors in the crypt of the Cathedral in Fort Wayne, but at the Victory Noll sisters’ cemetery in Huntington. Bishop Michael Ready, then-chairman of the press department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, summed up Archbishop Noll’s mission aptly when he wrote in memoriam: “The whole Church in the United States is greatly indebted to him. The fruits of his great works and zeal greatly enriched our country.” Archbishop Noll was an untiring, effective, and innovative evangelist and apologist. Through unprecedented and successful use of the press, Archbishop Noll defended the Church against many obstacles and threats – and in the face of much opposition. He offered a simple and comprehensible defense of the Church’s teachings for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and in many ways his visionary methods were ahead of their time. A zealous pastor and shepherd who never lost sight of souls, Archbishop Noll worked tirelessly to help people come to knowledge of the truth that sets us free. Chicago’s Cardinal Samuel Stritch, in his sermon at Archbishop Noll’s funeral in 1956, memorialized the late bishop’s faith as something “so deep, so real, that it really puzzled him when he saw Catholics who did not live wholly with Christ.” Cardinal Stritch, in this concise description, got at the heart of what motivated Archbishop Noll. His episcopal motto – Mentes Tuorum Visita – reiterated this. In that line from the traditional hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, we invoke the Holy Spirit to come down and dwell within the minds of men, and it aptly sums up the mission of Archbishop Noll, who left a storied legacy and eminent example as an evangelist and shepherd, and one that is fitting for us in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend to reflect upon even these many years later. The post The Lasting Legacy of Archbishop Noll appeared first on Today's Catholic.