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Reverend John Martin Henni, D.D. 1844-1881
John Martin Henni was born on June 15,
1805, in Misanenga, Switzerland. He was ordained a priest on
February 2, 1829 in Bardstown, Kentucky. He began his priestly
service in Ohio and served as an itinerant minister and pastor
of predominantly German Catholics in the Ohio Valley region.
Henni was chosen as the first bishop of the newly created Diocese
of Milwaukee in 1843 and was consecrated bishop on March 19,
1844, in Cincinnati.
Henni worked tirelessly to build the new
diocese and expand the Catholic following. He established
many new parishes, the first parochial schools, Catholic hospitals,
and Catholic orphanages. He also established Saint Francis
Seminary out of his residence in 1845, and then established
the Seminary in its current location on the south shore of
Milwaukee in 1856. He worked to bring religious orders into
the diocese, including the Daughters (Sisters) of Charity,
the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the School Sisters of St.
Francis, the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Charity, the
Jesuits, and the Capuchins. He established the first German-language
newspaper in Milwaukee, and supported the English-language
Catholic newspapers as well.
Due to the rapid growth of the Milwaukee
diocese, in 1868, Henni asked Pope Pius IX to create two new
dioceses, Green Bay and LaCrosse, out of the Milwaukee diocese.
Pope Pius IX created the Province of Milwaukee and raised
the Milwaukee diocese to the rank of archdiocese in 1875.
Henni was appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee on February 12,
1875.
Henni was a German-speaking Swiss who desired
to build a strong German Catholic community that preserved
language and ethnic traditions, though he still welcomed English-speaking
Catholics to develop their own parishes and institutions.
He created controversy in 1878 when he requested that fellow
German, Michael Heiss, be appointed as his coadjutor with
right of succession. English-speaking Catholics protested,
but Henni’s request was eventually granted.
Archbishop Henni died on September 7, 1881
in Milwaukee after 37 years of service.
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