Henry Moeller

Background

Henry K. Moeller was the son of Bernard and Teresa (Witte) Moeller, who emigrated from Westphalia about 1845. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Education

Henry K. Moeller was educated in St. Joseph's German parochial school and St. Francis Xavier's College. His father, a bricklayer and building contractor, provided well for the education of his six children: the only daughter joined the Sisters of Charity at Mount St. Joseph on Ohio; one son, Ferdinand, became a Jesuit; and another, Bernard, a distinguished secular priest of Cincinnati. Henry was sent by Archbishop Purcell to the American College at Rome in 1869, and there, according to the rector, F. S. Chatard, passed with honors an examination for the doctorate in divinity seven years later.

Career

Ordained by Archbishop Lenti at the church of St. John Lateran, Rome, June 10, 1876, Moeller returned to Ohio and was assigned to St. Patrick's Church, Bellefontaine. During the next two years he taught in Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati, then, after a few months as secretary to Bishop Chatard of Vincennes, became secretary to Archbishop William Henry Elder, whom he assisted in the financial reorganization of the Cincinnati archdiocese. In 1886, he was made chancellor in recognition of his unusual administrative skill. Fourteen years later, the Holy Father named him to the see of Columbus, for which he was consecrated by Archbishop Elder in St. Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati, on August 25, 1900. Here again his business ability was tested, for this diocese had been in such poor financial condition that its dissolution had been considered. On the request of Elder for a coadjutor, the suffragan bishops failed to decide between Moeller and C. P. Maes of Covington for the nomination and sent both names to Rome. Moeller was selected, April 27, 1903, as coadjutor cum jure successionis with the title of Archbishop of Aeropolis. Hence, upon the death of Elder in 1904, he automatically succeeded to the see, October 31, 1904, and received the pallium in his cathedral at the hands of Cardinal Gibbons, February 15, 1905. At his funeral mass, celebrated by Cardinal Hayes of New York, he was eulogized by Archbishop Glennon of St. Louis as an active priest of forceful character.

Achievements

• Archbishop Moeller assumed direction of a well-organized, conservative diocese which had practically settled the old financial tangle bequeathed by Archbishop Purcell. During his tenure he accomplished a great deal: the number of priests and churches was increased; Mount St. Mary's Seminary was erected at Norwood; the new St. Francis Xavier College was established by the Jesuits with the archbishop's active support; the Fenwick Club was built; the Sisters of St. Ursula, the cloistered nuns of the Second Order of St. Dominic, and the Dominican Nuns of St. Catherine de Ricci were introduced into the diocese; St. Rita's School for the Deaf was established; diocesan charities were centrally organized under a Bureau of Catholic Charities, and parochial and secondary schools were raised to a standard which other dioceses sought to emulate. Chairman of the committee of the hierarchy on missions, president of the board of the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, and an organizer of the languishing National Councils of Catholic Men and of Catholic Women, he was a recognized power in Catholic circles. Archbishop Moeller High School, a parochial school near Cincinnati, Ohio, was named for Bishop Moeller.

Views

Moeller was deeply concerned with Catholic education and the National Catholic Educational Association. He was heartily interested in the National Catholic Welfare Council, and in 1922, with Bishop Schrembs of Cleveland, went to Rome in order to protect its threatened existence. His mission was evidently successful, for the reorganized National Catholic Welfare Conference was continued under the same management and given papal approbation. Two years later, he was appointed an assistant to the pontifical throne.

Connections

Moeller was never married.

Father:

Bernard Moeller

7 June 1822 - 5 September 1901

Mother:

Maria Theresa Witte Moeller

12 December 1822 - 1888

Brother:

Ferdinand Moeller

16 December 1852 - 15 December 1946

Brother:

Bernard Moeller

16 September 1855 - 8 December 1928

Brother:

Herman Ferdinand Moeller

30 May 1863 - 29 May 1899

Sister:

Maria Anna Elizabeth (Sister Henry Maria) Moeller

1 April 1858 - 3 March 1932

References

• History of the Christian Church; Volume 1