Karl Joseph Alter
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Karl Joseph Alter (August 18, 1885 – August 23, 1977) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1950 to 1969.
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[edit] Biography
Karl Joseph Alter was born to John and Elizabeth Alter in Toledo, Ohio, where he attended St. John's Jesuit High School and was a member of the first graduating class.
After studying at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 4, 1910. Alter then did pastoral work in Ohio, including serving as pastor of St. Mary Church in Leipsic. He was made the first Diocesan Director of Charities and Cemeteries in 1914. Alter continued in this position until 1929, when he succeeded Fr. William Kerby as director of the School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
On April 17, 1931, Alter was appointed Bishop of Toledo by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 17 from Archbishop John McNicholas, with Bishops Augustus Schwertner and Joseph Albers serving as co-consecrators. Alter was later named Archbishop of Cincinnati on June 14, 1950 following the death of Archbishop McNicholas earlier that year.
From 1962 to 1965, Alter attended the Second Vatican Council, during which he also proposed a model of separation between Church and State. At the Council, he sat on its commissions for bishops and the government of dioceses. He discontinued first grades in Cincinnati parochial schools in 1964 because of high costs and overcrowded classrooms[1]. However, Alter did not believe that this would greatly interfere with children's religious education[2]. Alter also renovated Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral and restored it as mother church of the Archdiocese[3].
He resigned as Cincinnati's archbishop on July 19, 1969, after nineteen years of service. At the same time Alter was appointed Titular Archbishop of Minora, a post from which he stepped down on December 31, 1970.
Alter died in Cincinnati at age 92.
[edit] Trivia
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- Along with fellow American bishops, Alter publicly criticized the Moscow Agreement of 1943[4].
- An active member of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Alter was raised to its Administrative Board in 1942. He was also its Vice-Chairman (1950-1952, 1956-1958), Chairman (1952-1955, 1958-1962), and Secretary (1962-1966)[5].
- He sat on the Second Vatican Council's Central Preparatory Commission[6].
[edit] Legacy
- Archbishop Alter High School, a Dayton, Ohio parochial high school was named for Alter.
- Archbishop Karl J. Alter Library is located at the College of Mount St. Joseph.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ TIME Magazine. Schools Under Strain March 20, 1964
- ^ Ibid.
- ^ Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral. Cathedral History
- ^ TIME Magazine. Moscow: Catholic View November 22, 1943
- ^ University of Notre Dame. ALTER, KARL J.
- ^ Ibid.
[edit] External links
- Succession of Archbishop Karl Joseph Alter
- website of Archbishop Alter High School
- Catholic Hierarchy
| Preceded by Samuel Alphonsius Stritch |
Bishop of Toledo 1931–1950 |
Succeeded by George John Rehring |
| Preceded by John Timothy McNicholas |
Archbishop of Cincinnati 1950–1969 |
Succeeded by Paul Francis Leibold |
