St. Matthew Cathedral Parish

Parish founded 1921 — first wooden church dedicated 13 August 1922 — co-cathedral of the diocese from 1960

Founding: After the First World War, Catholic families on South Bend’s southeast side — 75 families at the first gathering, grown to 175 petitioners — sought a parish of their own. In 1921 Bishop Herman Alerding gave the Rev. John DeGroote permission to buy 14 lots in the Oak Park addition, bounded by Dubail Street, Miami Street and Dayton Street. A combined church-and-school building was estimated at 35,000 dollars and set aside on the bishop’s advice in favor of a temporary wooden church.

The wooden church: The Rev. Theodore J. Hammes was appointed first pastor. With no rectory yet built, he lived at St. Monica’s parish in Mishawaka. Twenty-two men volunteered their labor, and the small church was built in May 1922 for 10,000 dollars, with a parish hall in the basement. It was dedicated on 13 August 1922. Seating 240 at first, it was enlarged within a year to hold 600; by the end of 1923 the parish counted about 950 people. Six more lots bought in 1924 gave the parish the whole block.

School and second pastor: Construction of the parish school began 15 May 1929, and Bishop John F. Noll dedicated it on 13 October 1929; it cost 167,000 dollars and opened with 150 pupils. In 1934 the Brothers of Holy Cross opened Central Catholic High School on the school’s second floor; it operated until 1951. The Rev. Arnold J. Wibbert succeeded Hammes in 1933 and served 36 years, clearing the parish debt by 1945 and overseeing the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Victory, who served the parish from 1942 to 1958. He was raised to monsignor in 1959 and died a few months after his retirement in 1969.

Co-cathedral: Ground was broken in 1959 for a new brick church; the old wooden church was demolished and only its bells were kept and installed in the new building. The new church was completed on 29 May 1960. That year, before construction was quite finished, St. Matthew’s was named co-cathedral of the renamed Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend, and Bishop Pursley celebrated the elevation in a ceremony a century after the dedication of the Fort Wayne cathedral.

Rectors: Theodore Hammes, 1921–33. Arnold Wibbert, 1933–69. Joseph R. Crowley, 1969–91. John R. Sheets, 1991–97. Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., 1997–2002. Michael Heintz, 2002 into the following decade; he left in 2016 for a teaching post at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, and Terry Fisher, a son of the parish ordained at St. Matthew in 1985, succeeded as rector and pastor.

Centennial: The parish celebrated its 100th anniversary at a Mass with Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades on 14 August 2022. By then the parish counted about 1,300 families and a school of some 350–400 pupils, and its membership had grown markedly more diverse, with Hispanic and Black families joining in number.

Sources:

1. St. Matthew Cathedral, “History,” stmatthewcathedral.org — the 1921 land purchase, the 1922 church and dedication, the 1929 school, Wibbert’s pastorate, the bells, and the Crowley, Sheets and Jenky years.
2. Today’s Catholic, “From Humble Wooden Church to Cathedral — St. Matthew Celebrates 100 Years,” 16 August 2022 — the 175 petitioning families, the 29 May 1960 completion, the co-cathedral elevation and the 14 August 2022 centennial Mass.
3. Bob Garrow, “History of St. Matthew Cathedral Parish,” 1 December 2013, as quoted in Today’s Catholic — the wooden church’s 240 seats and its growth, and Wibbert’s “wooden frame church to a Cathedral” pastorate.
4. Today’s Catholic, “In My Diocese: St. Matthew Cathedral,” 2017 — Heintz’s departure in 2016 and Fisher’s appointment as rector.