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St. Ferdinand Catholic Church

Introduction

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St. Ferdinand Catholic Church is located in Ferdinand, Indiana which is located in Dubois County. The church serves Christ the King Parish in Ferdinand. The current church was originally completed in 1848, and the church has been renovated several times since then. Like many of the other Catholic churches in Dubois County, St. Ferdinand was built to accommodate the growing German-speaking Catholic population.

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Backstory and Context

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St. Ferdinand Catholic Church was originally completed in 1848. The last major renovation that occurred for the church happened in 1924, with minor renovations being done since then. Ferdinand was originally settled by German-speaking Catholics who had settled from nearby Jasper under the leadership of Father Joseph Kundek. when they began to outgrow the confines of Saint Joseph Catholic Church. The first mass in Ferdinand was held in 1840 in one of the first log cabin houses in Ferdinand. As mentioned previously the stone church wasn't completed until 1848. The church interior was last renovated in 1924, and in that same year the stone on the exterior of the church was stuccoed, or coated with plaster.

St. Ferdinand Catholic Church like many of the early Catholic church in Dubois County Indiana were built to accommodate the growing German-speaking Catholic population. St. Ferdinand Catholic Church is located right next to the Monastery Immaculate Conception. The monastery came to be due to the pleads of father Chrysostom Foffa , who needed more German speaking nuns to help the needs of St. Ferdinand Catholic Church's parish, to the Sisters of Saint Benedict in Covington, Kentucky in 1867. Ferdinand is also near the Saint Meinrad Archabbey which also came to the area to help the needs of the local Catholic parishes. St. Ferdinand Catholic Church was one of the first Catholic Church's and parish's to serve the local German-speaking Catholic inhabitants of Dubois County, Indiana. Today the Church still means a great deal to the community, and when 2016 when church underwent minor renovations many of the contractors who worked on the church were local parishioners and people of the Community.

Sources

History, Welcome to Christ the King Parish. Home of Saint Ferdinand and Saint Henry Churches. Accessed April 17th 2020. https://www.christthekingdc.org/History.

Stites, Sam. Renovations tie into churches long history , Dubois County Herald. January 14th 2016. Accessed May 4th 2020. https://duboiscountyherald.com/b/renovations-tie-into-churchs-long-history.