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1875-1900: The Sacred Heart Parish was formed in 1875 as a result of German immigrant growth
on the Southside of Indianapolis. The charter members of Sacred Heart consisted of 60 families from St. Mary Parish. The first
structure was the three-story friary-church-school combination (pictured to the left), soon followed by the school-convent
built by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1878. The first section of the church building was completed in 1883. The eastern section
of the church and its two steeples were completed in 1891. We maintain the city's second oldest, active Catholic church building.
Many of our 3rd and 4th generation parishioners take pride in recalling the oral history of the parish and recognizing how
their grandparents helped to make it all happen.
1900-1925: The high altar was put in place in 1900 for the Silver Jubilee. During this
period the school grew from offering six grades to establishing he first Catholic coeducational high school in the city. German
was spoken in the parish schools until 1919 and in the mass until 1923. As the Indianapolis southside continued to grow, Sacred
Heart organized a second parish for the forty families living south of Southern Avenue. It was placed under the patronage
of St. Roch, protector against epedemics. St. Roch held its first mass on Christmas Day of 1922.
1926-1950: The six windows in the sanctuary were designed by Franz Mayer of Munich and
installed between 1925 and 1927. In 1930 parishioner Norbert Hermann designed and crafted new pews. The Hermann shop was a
two car garage at the time, which only allowed for 2 pews to be built at a time. In 1936 the angels were painted on the ceiling
by artist Carl Fuchs of Munich. In 1940 the pipe organ was installed followed by a sacred concert, sermon and Benediction.
In 1947 Fr. Burchard had a new solid mineral flooring called Mar-Flex installed throughout the church. Many a parishioner
was pleased to find the kneelers padded when they were put back into place.
1951-1975: Third generation parishioner Bob Richardson recalls the "block-effect" painting
of the church being completed just weeks before his wedding in May of 1950.
Many a Spartan football fan remembers 1964
when the school team beat Cathedral for the first time in their 14-year rivalry and made it to the Indianapolis City Champs.
A sacred era closed in 1969 as Kennedy (formerly Sacred Heart H.S.) shut its doors and merged with Chartrand High School to
form Roncalli High School.
1976-2000: 1991 marked the Centennial celebration of the completion of the church building.
The buildings took on new uses during this period. St. Vincent de Paul Society occupied the first floor of the former grade
school for a short time. Catholic Social Services opened the Holy Family Shelter in the vacant convent. The old grade school
building which served as a parish hall, was replaced with an expanded parking lot. Sacred Heart then purchased the former
Bank One Branch at 1125 South Meridian Street to serve as its new parish hall. Ironically, the original building owner, Southside
State Bank, was charterd by Sacred Heart parishioner John Lauck. The Villa at Sacred Heart, an apartment facility for elderly
and handicapped people, was constructed in 1985 on the site of the demolished high school and first convent. The Franciscan
presence on the southside was diminished in 1997 when the Province turned St. Roch parish over to archdiocesan clergy. During
this same time, the Province evaluated whether to continue ministry at Sacred Heart Church and decided to stay. Today, Sacred
Heart is the only parish in the Archdiocese staffed by Franciscans of Sacred Heart Province in St. Louis.
2001-present: A church fire on April 27, 2001 caused extensive restoration work
to be done in the church that did not allow parishioners to return for worship until December 1, 2002. During those
19 months, weekend Masses were held at the parish hall. In 2002 the Reflect, Rebuild, Renew...Supporting Our Spiritual
Home Capital Campaign raised $800,000 to repair steeples and to install air conditioning, a restroom, fire alarm system, enhanced
lighting and sound. Click below to see photos and learn more about the rebuild.
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