(Mar. 18, 1890-Feb. 17, 1984). Born in Fredericktown, Missouri, Schulte was ordained on June 11, 1915. He ministered at the old St. Louis Cathedral and wrote its history. He was consecrated bishop of Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1937. Transferred to Indianapolis, the tall, lean, and dignified Schulte was installed as the city’s second archbishop on October 10, 1946. He held that position longer than any other bishop in the 20th century (See ).
Schulte organized 20 new parishes in response to the increasing Catholic population in Marion County after World War II. Strongly committed to Catholic education, he authorized five new archdiocesan high schools (Scecina, Brute Latin, Chatard, Chartrand, and Ritter) as well as the openings of Our Lady of Grace Academy and Brebeuf Preparatory High School between 1953 and 1964. Catholic elementary school enrollment increased during his tenure from 13,877 (1946) to 37,920 (1965). As Indianapolis was one of the largest cities in the United States without a Catholic college for men, he asked the Sisters of St. Francis to open their Cold Spring Road campus to men (1954), making Marian College () the state’s first Catholic coeducational college.
Schulte’s episcopate was a time of growth in an atmosphere of stability and traditional conservatism. Ironically, the archbishop participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which promoted a change in the name of adaptation and modernization. In his later years, Schulte faced the questioning of traditional beliefs and practices, liturgical innovation, clerical resignations, and a general decline in the Catholic Church discipline.
On January 14, 1970, Schulte retired and was appointed titular archbishop of Elicroca. He donated to Marian College his materials on the history of the church in the Midwest and his working papers as a Vatican Council participant. Residing in St. Augustine’s Home, he died at age 94, nearly the oldest bishop in the country, and was interred in the mausoleum chapel of Calvary Cemetery.
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