Herman Joseph Alerding
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The Right Reverend Herman Joseph Alerding |
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Bishop of Fort Wayne (1900–1924) |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | September 22, 1869 (aged 24) |
| Consecration | November 30, 1900 (aged 55) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 13, 1845 Westphalia, Germany |
| Died | December 6, 1924 (aged 79) Fort Wayne, Indiana |
Herman Joseph Alerding (April 13, 1845 – December 6, 1924) was a German-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Fort Wayne from 1900 until his death in 1924.
Herman Alerding was born in Westphalia and, during his infancy, came with his parents to the United States, where they settled in Newport, Kentucky. He received his early education at the parochial school of Corpus Christi Church. His local bishop, George Aloysius Carrell, did not accept him as a seminarian for the Diocese of Covington because he was unable to provide for his seminary expenses, and Alerding was instead accepted by Bishop Jacques-Maurice De Saint Palais of the Diocese of Vincennes. He attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary near Vincennes from 1858 until 1859, when the seminary was closed. 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. At the seminary he mentored student Paul Dresser and taught him to play a variety of musical instruments. Dresser later became among the most popular composers in the United States and authored the state song of Indiana.
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 finally 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. While at Cambridge City, Alerding calmed a turbulent congregation which had been under interdict for several months, liquidated the parish debt, and purchased a site for a new church.
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