He was a “harmonizer” among the people. Warm, witty, and personable, he always addressed the many readers of his weekly newspaper in a loving and informal manner as “Friends of Our Sunday Visitor.” A man ahead of his time, long before Vatican II John Noll understood, appreciated, and encouraged the work of the laity in Catholic action. A peacemaker at heart, without in any way compromising his high standards or the tenets of the Catholic faith, he brought the country to the realization that it was possible to be both Catholic and American.
This sketch of his life is dedicated to his beloved laity and the friends of Our Sunday Visitor.
Foreword
Scripture tells us, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Archbishop John F. Noll was among the most fruitful of America’s great bishops, and we at Our Sunday Visitor continue to reap the rich harvest of his legacy.
Yet the most enduring of his prodigious efforts — all accomplished while he was a full-time pastor and bishop — may not be the specific products that he created, but the passion and the energy with which he engaged American society, and the encouragement he gave to others to do the same.
Archbishop Noll was what is now known as “an early adopter.” He embraced the communication tools of his day — print, radio, and television — with an eye toward how they could best serve the mission of the Church. He was also ahead of his time in understanding the vital role that laypeople could play in the life of the Church and in society. He encouraged lay involvement, believing that only through an educated and energetic laity could the Church hope to spread the Gospel and renew the nation.
He has not been the only bishop to found a newspaper, write books, and play a leadership role in the world beyond his diocese. But the lasting vitality of Archbishop Noll’s legacy is unique.
The same newspaper he founded to defend the Church and teach the faithful continues to do so today. The Priest magazine today serves a clergy more embattled than ever before, but no less dedicated to their vocation. And many new publications have joined the Our Sunday Visitor family over the years to meet the needs of Catholics in the pew.
Just as Archbishop Noll was always quick to see the potential of new technologies for evangelization, so today his company seeks to use the Internet, radio, CD-ROM, and other communication tools to reach those interested in seeing the world’s events through Catholic eyes.
And that small offering envelope company he founded so many years ago? Today, it is the largest Catholic producer of envelopes in the world, helping to teach the principles of Gospel-based stewardship to parishes throughout the country.
One final legacy of Archbishop Noll’s passion, energy, and love for the Church is the Our Sunday Visitor Institute. Every year this organization lends financial support to worthy projects, organizations, and conferences that conform in some way to his vision of education, evangelization, and witness. Assistance has been provided throughout the nation and in virtually every diocese.
What Archbishop Noll founded nearly a century ago continues to bear fresh fruit for the sake of the Lord and on behalf of His Church. Following his lead, it remains dedicated to ordinary Catholics who love their Church, love their faith, and strive to live as Jesus commanded them to.
We, the employees of Our Sunday Visitor and the heirs of his mission, are steadfastly committed to Archbishop Noll’s original insight: that an educated laity, formed well in the principles of its faith, is not only a lasting bulwark against the temptations of the world but also the most powerful and positive witness to the truths of our Church.
This remains to this day our ministry, the lasting fruit, the continual harvest, sown by this visionary priest, our founder and inspiration: Archbishop John F. Noll.
— Gregory R. Erlandson
President, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Preface
John Francis Noll, fifth bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and founder of Our Sunday Visitor, was one of the most influential Catholics of his day. His accomplishments were legion; he made his mark on nearly all of the major Catholic ventures of his time, and many of the institutions and works that he founded or influenced are still thriving today, although he died in 1956. His life spanned one of the most tumultuous periods of American Catholic history, from the era of Pope Pius IX and the First Vatican Council to the threshold of change inspired by Vatican Council II. He lived during a period of unprecedented expansion and immigration in this country, when the American Church was growing exponentially. Catholics in America needed a sense of identity, a sense of self-confidence and pride.
Statue of Archbishop Noll sculpted by Eugene Kormendi
Noll began to organize and educate an emerging Catholic laity. His was the first Catholic newspaper with national scope, and it signaled the effort to unite American Catholics, bridging the regionalism and ethnic diversity with a corporate identity. A great churchman, Noll was always concerned with the welfare not only of his own diocese, but also of the Church at large. He stands today as the most outstanding Catholic publisher in America.
This book is not a definitive biography. It is not intended as a “brag book” of his accomplishments. Rather, I have tried to paint with words the portrait of the man behind the miter — a man whose works and influence touched millions of American Catholics. He established the ideals for a newspaper and book publishing company with which I have enjoyed working for more than twenty years. It is my hope that the reader of this book will come to better appreciate not only the man who did so much for the Catholics of the United States, but also the humble priest with a strong and simple faith and a generous heart.
— Ann Ball
Introduction
When Americans gather to celebrate national holidays like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, we often think about pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock, English colonists at Jamestown, and the founding fathers gathered in convention in Philadelphia. The early colonists came for many reasons but mostly in search of new lands, prosperity, and religious freedom. The Mayflower Compact in Massachusetts, Roger William’s Baptist colony in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Anglicanism of Virginia reflected the impact that Protestant Christianity has made upon the American scene. The results of the “Great Awakenings” helped shape the religious and political character of the nation. The Protestant denominations, which dominated the American landscape, interpreted America’s Manifest Destiny to be a result of God’s providential plan. America’s providential destiny continues to be a powerful force that drives the imagination and affirms the conviction that this is the land of opportunity, freedom, and democracy.
Portrait of Archbishop Noll by Elizabeth Kormendi, hanging at Our Sunday Visitor
From the beginning, American Catholics were considered outsiders in the midst of a predominately Protestant culture. Catholics were suspect because of their perceived loyalty to a foreign power, the Papacy, which had implications not only in religious expression but also in politics. Suspicion of Catholic intentions resulted in periodic displays of anti-Catholicism. Many questioned whether Catholics could be loyal to the democratic experiment on which the country had been founded. However, Catholics also had arrived seeking religious freedom