Karl Joseph Alter

The Most Reverend Karl Joseph Alter
Archbishop emeritus of Cincinnati

See	Cincinnati
Installed	June 14, 1950
Term ended	July 19, 1969
Predecessor	John T. McNicholas
Successor	Paul Francis Leibold
Other posts	Bishop of Toledo (1931-50)
Orders
Ordination	June 4, 1910
Consecration	June 17, 1931
Personal details
Born	(1885-08-18)August 18, 1885 Toledo, Ohio
Died	August 23, 1977(1977-08-23) (aged 92) Cincinnati, Ohio
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church

Karl Joseph Alter (August 18, 1885 – August 23, 1977) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Toledo (1931–50) and Archbishop of Cincinnati (1950–69).

Early life

Karl Alter was born in Toledo, Ohio, to John P. and Elizabeth (née Kuttner) Alter.^[1] His father was a cigar manufacturer and liquor dealer. He attended St. John's High School, and was a member of the first graduating class of St. John's College in 1905.^[2] He made his theological studies at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland.^[1]

Priesthood

On June 4, 1910, Alter was ordained to the priesthood.^[3] He then served as administrator of St. Mary's Church in Leipsic until 1912, when he became a curate at St. John's Church in Lima.^[1] In 1914, he was appointed the first diocesan director of Catholic Charities, coordinating various charitable organizations in the diocese into one agency.^[1] During this period, he also served as vice-president of the Toledo Social Service Foundation, a trustee of the Toledo Red Cross and of the Toledo Society for the Blind, and a member of the children's division of the state department of public welfare.^[2]

He was a lecturer in sociology at St. John's College and at Mary Manse College from 1914 to 1930.^[1] He earned a Master's degree from St. John's in 1923 and a doctorate in 1929.^[2] In 1929, he was named director of the School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.^[1] While in Washington, he also served as chairman of the speakers' committee for the Catholic Hour radio program.^[1]

Episcopacy

Toledo

On April 17, 1931, Alter was appointed the third Bishop of Toledo by Pope Pius XI.^[3] He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 17 from Archbishop John T. McNicholas, with Bishops Augustus John Schwertner and Joseph H. Albers serving as co-consecrators.^[3] He was the first native son of the diocese to become its bishop.^[2] He founded the Catholic Chronicle in 1934. In 1938, he deplored religious persecution in Germany and unrest in the Holy Land.^[2] Along with fellow American bishops, Alter publicly criticized the Moscow Agreement of 1943.^[4] In 1944, he drafted a proposal for a joint declaration on world peace by Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant leaders.^[2]

Following World War II, he offered a 10-point program for economic security; among his points were such contemporary ideas as wage equalization on the basis of cost of living, representation of laborers on a firm's board of trustees, profit-sharing, and special consideration for persons living on fixed incomes.^[2] During his tenure as bishop, the construction of Rosary Cathedral was completed and an addition to Central Catholic High School was built.^[2] He established DeSales College in 1942 and donated a 12-acre (49,000 m²) parcel of land in East Toledo for the construction of St. Charles Hospital.

Cincinnati

Following the death of Archbishop McNicholas, Alter was appointed the fifth Archbishop of Cincinnati on June 14, 1950.^[3] During his administration, he established 98 churches, 94 elementary schools, 14 high schools, 79 rectories, and 55 convents.^[2] He also instituted a priests' senate and an archdiocesan school board composed of lay members, and encouraged the formation of parish councils. He undertook a restoration of Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral.^[2]

Within the National Catholic Welfare Conference, he served two terms as vice- chairman (1950–52, 1956–58), two terms as chairman (1952–55, 1958–62), and one term as secretary (1962–66).^[1] As chairman of the NCWC, he issued a protest against religious and racial discrimination in June 1960. Between 1962 and 1965, Alter attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council, having previously served on the Central Preparatory Commission. At the Council, he sat on the Commissions for Bishops and for the Government of Dioceses. He discontinued first grades in Cincinnati parochial schools in 1964 because of high costs and overcrowded classrooms.^[5] However, Alter did not believe that this would greatly interfere with children's religious education^[5]

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. Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton is named in his honor, as was the former Alter Elementary (now All Saints Catholic School) in Rossford, Ohio.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Archbishop Karl Alter". Toledo Blade. 1977-08-23.
1 2 3 4 "Archbishop Karl Joseph Alter". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
↑ TIME Magazine. Moscow: Catholic View November 22, 1943
1 2 TIME Magazine. Schools Under Strain March 20, 1964

Catholic Church titles
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

Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Bishop	Edward Fenwick

Archbishops	John Baptist Purcell William Henry Elder Henry K. Moeller John T. McNicholas Karl Joseph Alter Paul Francis Leibold Joseph Bernardin Daniel Edward Pilarczyk Dennis Marion Schnurr

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Churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Cathedral	Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral

Parishes	Cincinnati Church of the Annunciation Immaculata Church Old St. Mary's Church St. Francis De Sales Church Saint Francis Seraph Church St. Francis Xavier Church St. Lawrence Church St. Pius X Church St. Rose Church Dayton Holy Cross Church Sacred Heart Church St. Adalbert Church St. Mary's Church Springfield St. Joseph's Church St. Raphael's Church Other Immaculate Conception Church, Botkins St. Aloysius Church, Carthagena Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Cassella Immaculate Conception Church, Celina Precious Blood Church, Chickasaw St. Joseph's Church, Egypt Holy Family Church, Frenchtown St. John's Church, Fryburg St. Patrick's Church, Glynwood St. John the Baptist Church, Maria Stein Sacred Heart Church, McCartyville St. Michael's Church, Mechanicsburg St. Augustine's Church, Minster St. Louis Church, North Star St. Nicholas Church, Osgood St. Anthony's Church, Padua St. Remy's Church, Russia St. Henry's Church, St. Henry Holy Rosary Church, St. Marys St. Rose's Church, St. Rose St. Sebastian's Church, Sebastian St. Joseph's Church, Wapakoneta

Former parishes	All Saints Church, Cincinnati Holy Trinity Church, Cincinnati St. Augustine Church, Cincinnati St. George's Church, Cincinnati St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cincinnati St. Paul Church, Cincinnati St. Philomena's Church, Cincinnati St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick

Shrine	Shrine of the Holy Relics

Education in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Higher education	Chatfield College University of Dayton Edgecliff College Mount St. Joseph University Xavier University

Seminary	Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West

High schools	Cincinnati DePaul Cristo Rey High School Elder High School La Salle High School McAuley High School Archbishop McNicholas High School Mother of Mercy High School Purcell Marian High School Seton High School St. Ursula Academy St. Xavier High School Summit Country Day School Ursuline Academy Dayton Carroll High School Chaminade-Julienne High School Other Archbishop Alter High School, Kettering Father Stephen T. Badin High School, Hamilton Catholic Central School, Springfield Bishop Fenwick High School, Franklin Lehman Catholic High School, Sidney Moeller High School, Kenwood Mount Notre Dame High School, Reading Royalmont Academy, Mason Roger Bacon High School, St. Bernard St. Rita School for the Deaf, Evendale

Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Auxiliary bishops	Sylvester Horton Rosecrans Joseph H. Albers George John Rehring Paul Francis Leibold Edward A. McCarthy Nicholas Elko Daniel Edward Pilarczyk James Henry Garland Carl K. Moeddel Joseph R. Binzer

Priests	John Martin Henni Edward Fitzgerald Clarence George Issenmann Henry Damian Juncker Joshua Maria Young John Baptist Lamy James Frederick Wood John Henry Luers Caspar Henry Borgess Richard Gilmour John Quinlan Augustus Toebbe Joseph Gregory Dwenger Henry Richter Francis Beckman Urban John Vehr Francis Augustine Thill Anthony John King Mussio John Joseph Kaising Robert Daniel Conlon Michael William Warfel

Miscellany

The Catholic Telegraph

Der Wahrheitsfreund

Former St. Charles Seminary

Gruenwald Convent

Minster Elementary School

St. John Cemetery, Cincinnati

New St. Joseph Cemetery, Cincinnati

Old St. Joseph's Cemetery, Cincinnati

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Cincinnati portal

Diocese of Toledo

Bishops	Ordinaries Joseph Schrembs Samuel Stritch Karl Joseph Alter George John Rehring John Anthony Donovan James Robert Hoffman Leonard Paul Blair Daniel Edward Thomas Auxiliaries Albert Henry Ottenweller Robert William Donnelly

Churches	Cathedral Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral Basilica Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation Parishes Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Bethlehem St. Michael's Ridge Church, Defiance St. John's Church, Delphos St. John the Baptist Church, Glandorf St. Peter's Church, Mansfield St. Augustine's Church, Napoleon All Saints Church, New Riegel Holy Angels Church, Sandusky St. Mary's Church, Sandusky Saints Peter and Paul Church, Sandusky Most Pure Heart Of Mary Church, Shelby St. Ann Church, Toledo St. Patrick's Church, Toledo

Higher Education	Colleges & Universities Lourdes University Mercy College of Ohio Former College Mary Manse College

Priests	Augustus John Schwertner

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