Ritter is noted for ending racial discrimination in church schools in both of his archdioceses long before it became mandatory in the United States. He also ended hospital segregation in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and supported the education of African-American students.
Early life and education
Elmer Ritter was born on July 20, 1892, in New Albany, Indiana. He was the fourth of six children of Nicholas Ritter (1859–1944) and Bertha (née Luette) (1865–1941).[1] His father owned the Ritter Bakery in New Albany (where the family also lived). Both parents were of German descent.[2] According to a 1946 article in the St. Louis Star and Times.;
"It was one of those shops, now rare, in which the whole family, the mother, father and the whole family had to help, either in the store part, which was in the front, or in the bakery which was in the rear."[3]
Ritter said his father had a great reverence of education, saying, "Dad gave us all a chance to go to college, but only if we applied ourselves."[3] Ritter received his early education at the parochial school of St. Mary of the Annunciation Church in New Albany, where the students called him "Apple-Pie Ritter".[4]
Religious calling
During the seventh grade, Ritter decided to enter the priesthood. Ritter said "There was no vision, no voice from heaven. I simply wanted to be a priest."[5] In 1907, he enrolled at St. Meinrad's Seminary in Saint Meinrad, Indiana, where he completed his studies in 1917.[1]
Priesthood
Ritter was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Indianapolis at St. Meinrad Seminary in the Abbey Church on May 30, 1917, by Bishop Joseph Chartrand.[6]
As an auxiliary bishop, he also served as vicar general of the diocese from 1933 to 1934.[2] At age 40, Ritter was one of the youngest Catholic bishops in the United States.[5]
Bishop of Indianapolis
Following Chartrand's death, Pius XI appointed Ritter as the seventh bishop of Indianapolis on March 24, 1934.[6]
In 1937, Ritter ordered the racial integration of three girls schools in the diocese. In reaction, the Ku Klux Klan in 1938 burned a cross in front of the cathedral rectory. Undaunted, Ritter in 1943 banned racial segregation in all Catholic schools in the diocese.[7][8] Some community leaders threatened to sue the diocese; his decision was opposed by some clergy. The Klan paraded outside SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in protest.[9]
Ritter also reorganized the diocesan branch of Catholic Charities, introduced the Catholic Youth Organization to the diocese, and completed the construction of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral.[10] He reduced the diocesan debt by $3 million, equivalent to $50,772,643 in 2023[11].[4]
The Diocese of Indianapolis was elevated to the status of an archdiocese by Pope Pius XII on October 21, 1944. Ritter was installed as its first archbishop on December 19, 1944.[13]
St. Louis grew quickly during the post-World War II economic boom. Ritter opened an average of three parishes per year in St. Louis city and county.[15] Ritter raised more than $125,000,000 (equivalent to $1,244,021,739 in 2023[11]) to build sixty new parishes and sixteen high schools. He started fundraising for the Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children in St. Louis in 1949.[16]
Ritter also developed what is now known as the Annual Catholic Appeal, which remains a primary source of financial support for many archdiocesan educational and charitable activities.[15]
In 1950, Ritter created 31 classrooms for special needs students in archdiocesan schools and two group homes.[8]
As one of his first acts as archbishop, Ritter announced that Webster College, a Catholic women's college in Webster Groves, Missouri, would now accept African-American students. The Sisters of Loretto, who ran the college, had attempted to integrate it in 1945, but were blocked by Glennon.[17] Ritter in 1947 also allowed the senior class of St. Joseph's High School, then the city's only African-American Catholic high school, to celebrate graduation for the first time at the Cathedral, alongside white students.[18]
On August 9, 1947, Ritter announced an end to racial segregation in all five St. Louis diocesan high schools before the fall term.[19][10] He declared, "The cross on top of our schools must mean something," and expressed his belief in "the equality of every soul before Almighty God".[20]
A group of over 700 white Catholics from 49 St. Louis area parishes, calling themselves the "Catholic Parents Association of Saint Louis and Saint Louis County", threatened to sue Ritter .[21][22] The association claimed that Ritter's order violated Missouri state law.[23] Association Co-Chair William T. Rone said "We do not want Negro children alongside our children in the schools." Ritter refused to meet with the association's leaders; his spokesman said, "He is the father of the whole flock and must care for all, regardless of race."[24] Ritter then issued a pastoral letter, warning about possible excommunication for Catholics "interfering with ecclesiastical office authority by having recourse to authority outside of the church".[25]
After ruling out a lawsuit, the association did send a letter of protest to the apostolic delegate to the United States, Cardinal Amleto Giovanni Cicognani.[23][26] Cicognani responded, "I am confident that everyone will readily comply with what has been so clearly proposed by the ecclesiastical authority of the Archdiocese".[18] Ritter later ordered all the parish schools to "accept all children into parish schools without regard to race". These schools represented 25% of all students in the St. Louis area.[18] Ritter also desegregated all Catholic hospitals in the archdiocese.[5]
Ritter in 1963 was "dismayed" and "indignant" after the rector of Catholic University of America, Monsignor William McDonald, refused to allow certain liberal theologians to speak at the university.[30] On August 24, 1964, in line with reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Ritter celebrated the world's first authorized mass in English at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.[15]
Death, funeral and burial
Ritter died on June 10, 1967, at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis after suffering two heart attacks that week.[31] His body lay in state at the cathedral.
Ritter's requiem mass was celebrated on June 15, 1967, at St. Louis Cathedral. At his request, it was a low funeral mass.[8] Cardinal-designate John Cody was the main celebrant. In his sermon, Bishop Charles Helmsing spoke of Ritter's liturgical leadership, particularly "his concern for a liturgy of the Word that would truly inform and enlighten the people of God."
Ten archbishops, 48 bishops, and four abbots attended the mass. The prelates in attendance included Cardinals Richard Cushing, James Francis McIntyre, Lawrence Shehan, and Francis Spellman, along with Archbishops John Krol and Patrick O'Boyle. Fifty Protestant, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian leaders were present, representing the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the United Church of Christ, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Baptists, the Disciples of Christ, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, and the Salvation Army.[8]
Ritter was buried in the priest's lot at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, following his final wishes. On November 2, 1994, Archbishop Justin Rigali ordered Ritter's remains to be removed from Calvary Cemetery and re-interred in the crypt of the new cathedral, now the cathedral basilica of St. Louis.[32][8]
Viewpoints
Ecumenism
In 1960, Ritter declared that Catholic students must obtain written permission from the archdiocese to attend secular or non-Catholic colleges. He was concerned about their exposure to secular influences and the doctrines of other religions.[33]
In 1964, Ritter allowed a marriage ceremony that included both Catholic and Episcopal priests at St. Genevieve du Bois Catholic Church near St. Louis. It was the first such ceremony approved by a Catholic prelate in U.S.[34]
Mosaic depicting Cardinal Ritter at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis
Ritter is commemorated by a wall mosaic work in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. One side of the mosaic shows Ritter reaching out toward a group of people from other religions. The other side shows him reaching towards a multiracial group of school children.
Ritter's birthplace and childhood home in New Albany was saved from demolition in 2001 and later restored. It is now owned by the Cardinal Ritter Birthplace Foundation and is operated as a neighborhood center.[36]
Honorary Founder of Saint Louis University Award in 1961 from Saint Louis University "in honor of his leadership and influence in the cause of education".[16]
Ecumenical Man of the Year Award in 1965 from the Metropolitan St. Louis Church Federation. However, Ritter declined the award, saying "Grateful for the honor, I am united with you in efforts for Christian unity. But it is my practice to decline citations in line with what is obviously my duty".[38]
^Landers, Misty (January 2017). Just Discrimination: Arkansas Parochial Schools and the Defense of Segregation (Thesis). University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
