John Noll

January 25, 1875 (age 81)

In 1893 Noll went on to the major seminary at Mount St. Mary's of the West in Cincinnati, and on June 4, 1898, he was ordained a priest. After brief temporary assignments as an assistant in various places, Noll was appointed pastor at Ligonier, Indiana, in 1899. Over the next ten years he was transferred twice to other smalltown pastorates, and in 1910 he took over St. Mary's Church in Huntington, Indiana, a town some twenty miles southwest of Fort Wayne. He remained there as pastor until consecrated bishop of the diocese of Fort Wayne on June 30, 1925. Anti-Catholic feeling was strong in the Midwest around 1900, and as a young priest Noll developed a special interest in apologetical work. His talent for putting the Catholic position into popular colloquial form was first displayed in a pamphlet written for his parishioners on the dangers of mixed marriages, the need for Catholic schools, and similar matters. Other priests responded favorably to sample copies of Kind Words From Your Pastor (1903), which subsequently went through twenty-four printings. The Parish Monthly followed a similar pattern. It was initiated in 1908 for the instruction and edification of Noll's congregation. He then offered it to other pastors, and it developed into a regular periodical. Its name was changed to Family Monthly in 1938; and by 1950 it had a circulation of 160, 000 as Family Digest. His weekly publication in Our Sunday Visitor was intended to counteract the propaganda of The Menace, an anti-Catholic sheet published at Aurora. Subtitled The Harmonizer, Our Sunday Visitor was a newspaper in format, but more of a devotional magazine in content. It was distributed to Catholic pastors at a cost of one cent per copy, to be sold for a pittance or given away at church doors. By 1928 more than half the English-language Catholic churches in the country were receiving it. Although it had declined from the peak reached in the early 1960's, Our Sunday Visitor in 1974 had a circulation of more than 400, 000 and served as the official publication for seven dioceses. The Acolyte, a monthly founded in 1925 and renamed The Priest in 1945, was another product of Noll's literary energies. Besides contributing to these journals, he produced scores of pamphlets and ten book-length works. Aside from a volume on the history of the Fort Wayne diocese, his books and pamphlets were instructional, apologetic, or controversial in nature. By far the best known is Father Smith Instructs Jackson, an exposition of Catholic teaching in dialogue form. Published in 1913, this book has gone through some sixty printings and has been translated into half a dozen languages. There is also a Braille edition. Noll was equally active on the national Catholic scene. He was an early worker in the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Extension Society. Appointed treasurer of the American Board of Catholic Missions in 1925, he held that position until his death. In 1930, Noll was elected to the administrative board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the official organization of the Catholic hierarchy of the United States. He served for eight years as secretary of its administrative board (1931-1934, 1942 - 1947); terms as chairman of the department of lay organizations (1934-1937, 1942 - 1947) partially overlapped his duties as secretary. Noll was a member of the episcopal committee that organized the Legion of Decency (1934), the Catholic body that rated films for moral acceptability; and he was chairman of the Bishops' Committee on Obscene Literature, which established the National Organization for Decent Literature in 1938. From 1942 to 1950 he also served on the Bishops' Committee for Catholic Refugees. In the early 1950's he spearheaded the effort to complete construction of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C.

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Works

book

Instructing the Non-Catholic Before Marriage (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Instructing the Non-Catholic Before Marriage...)

Father Smith Instructs Jackson by Archbishop John Francis Noll (2009-02-24)

Our national enemy number one: Education without religion,

The Diocese of Fort Wayne, Vol. 2: Fragments of History (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from The Diocese of Fort Wayne, Vol. 2: Fragments...)

The Call to the Youth: Series of Radio Talks Arranged for Leadership Study. In Cooperation with the National Broadcasting Company

(The Call to the Youth)

From a Friend to a Friend: On the 30th Anniversary of Our Sunday Visitor (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from From a Friend to a Friend: On the 30th Anniv...)

The Fairest Argument for Our Non-Catholic Friends

(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)

John Francis Noll Edit Profile

clergyman

Background

John Francis Noll was born on January 25, 1875 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. He was the fifth of nineteen children of John George Noll, a laborer. His mother, Anna Ford, died when he was four. His father married Mary McCleary soon thereafter, and the boy was reared by his stepmother.

Education

Noll received his elementary education at the cathedral parish school in Fort Wayne. At thirteen he entered the preparatory seminary at St. Lawrence College, Montana.

Career

In 1893 Noll went on to the major seminary at Mount St. Mary's of the West in Cincinnati, and on June 4, 1898, he was ordained a priest. After brief temporary assignments as an assistant in various places, Noll was appointed pastor at Ligonier, Indiana, in 1899.

Over the next ten years he was transferred twice to other smalltown pastorates, and in 1910 he took over St. Mary's Church in Huntington, Indiana, a town some twenty miles southwest of Fort Wayne. He remained there as pastor until consecrated bishop of the diocese of Fort Wayne on June 30, 1925.

Anti-Catholic feeling was strong in the Midwest around 1900, and as a young priest Noll developed a special interest in apologetical work. His talent for putting the Catholic position into popular colloquial form was first displayed in a pamphlet written for his parishioners on the dangers of mixed marriages, the need for Catholic schools, and similar matters. Other priests responded favorably to sample copies of Kind Words From Your Pastor (1903), which subsequently went through twenty-four printings. The Parish Monthly followed a similar pattern. It was initiated in 1908 for the instruction and edification of Noll's congregation. He then offered it to other pastors, and it developed into a regular periodical. Its name was changed to Family Monthly in 1938; and by 1950 it had a circulation of 160, 000 as Family Digest.

His weekly publication in Our Sunday Visitor was intended to counteract the propaganda of The Menace, an anti-Catholic sheet published at Aurora. Subtitled The Harmonizer, Our Sunday Visitor was a newspaper in format, but more of a devotional magazine in content. It was distributed to Catholic pastors at a cost of one cent per copy, to be sold for a pittance or given away at church doors. By 1928 more than half the English-language Catholic churches in the country were receiving it. Although it had declined from the peak reached in the early 1960's, Our Sunday Visitor in 1974 had a circulation of more than 400, 000 and served as the official publication for seven dioceses. The Acolyte, a monthly founded in 1925 and renamed The Priest in 1945, was another product of Noll's literary energies. Besides contributing to these journals, he produced scores of pamphlets and ten book-length works. Aside from a volume on the history of the Fort Wayne diocese, his books and pamphlets were instructional, apologetic, or controversial in nature. By far the best known is Father Smith Instructs Jackson, an exposition of Catholic teaching in dialogue form. Published in 1913, this book has gone through some sixty printings and has been translated into half a dozen languages. There is also a Braille edition.

Noll was equally active on the national Catholic scene. He was an early worker in the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic Extension Society. Appointed treasurer of the American Board of Catholic Missions in 1925, he held that position until his death.

In 1930, Noll was elected to the administrative board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the official organization of the Catholic hierarchy of the United States. He served for eight years as secretary of its administrative board (1931-1934, 1942 - 1947); terms as chairman of the department of lay organizations (1934-1937, 1942 - 1947) partially overlapped his duties as secretary.

Noll was a member of the episcopal committee that organized the Legion of Decency (1934), the Catholic body that rated films for moral acceptability; and he was chairman of the Bishops' Committee on Obscene Literature, which established the National Organization for Decent Literature in 1938. From 1942 to 1950 he also served on the Bishops' Committee for Catholic Refugees. In the early 1950's he spearheaded the effort to complete construction of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D. C.

Achievements

Noll's most significant contribution to Catholic apologetical journalism came in 1912 with the founding of Our Sunday Visitor. He also established a minor seminary, built Catholic high schools in the largest cities of the diocese, created a diocesan Catholic charities organization, established fifty-four new parishes, and ordained more than 500 priests.