Clarence George Issenmann (May 30, 1907 – July 27, 1982) was an

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of the

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. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the

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in Ohio from 1954 to 1957 as bishop of the

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in Ohio from 1957 to 1964, and as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1966 to 1974.

Biography

Early life

Clarence Issenmann was born on May 30, 1907, in

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, the only child of Innocent J. Issenmann (a grocer) and Amelia L. (née Stricker) Issenmann. Clarence Issenmann worked as delivery boy and

meat cutter A meat cutter prepares primal cuts into a variety of smaller cuts intended for sale in a retail environment. The duties of a meat cutter largely overlap those of the butcher, but butchers tend to specialize in pre-sale processing (i.e., reducing ...

for his father as young man. He attended St. Ann's School and then

Hamilton Catholic High School Hamilton Catholic High School opened up in 1909 on Dayton Street in Hamilton, Ohio. The school originally served the young Catholic men of the area. The school closed in 1966, and its students were moved to the newly opened Father Stephen T. Badi ...

, both in Hamilton. After graduating from high school, Issenmann entered St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana. He then returned to Cincinnati to study at St. Gregory's and Mount St. Mary of the West

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

Priesthood

Issenmann was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati by Archbishop John McNicholas on June 29, 1932, in the chapel of Mt. St. Mary's Norwood campus. After his ordination, Issenmann continued his studies at the

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in Fribourg, Switzerland, obtaining his Licentiate of Philosophy. He then entered the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Receiving a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

degree. After returning to the United States, Issenmann entered

Regis University Regis University ( ) is a Private university, private List of Jesuit educational institutions, Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1877 by the Jesuits, Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees th ...

in Denver, Colorado, where he received a Doctor of Journalism degree. While in Denver, Issenmann also worked on the staff of the ''Denver Register''. In 1938, Issenmann was appointed editor of the archdiocesan

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

of Cincinnati, the ''Catholic Telegraph Register''. He was named as a professor of theology in 1942 at Mt. St. Mary Seminary. Issenmann was raised to the rank of

monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

in 1943 and became

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and

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in 1945.

Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati

On March 24, 1954, Issenmann was appointed

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Phytea'' by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. He received his

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on May 25, 1954, from Archbishop Karl Alter, with Archbishop Urban Vehr and Bishop George Rehring serving as

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Bishop of Columbus

Pope Pius XII appointed Issenmann as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Columbus on December 5, 1957. During his tenure in

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, Issenmann established the Diocesan Development Fund so as to supply for the expansion of the diocese, which added eight

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

and six high schools under Issenmann. He also found a new building to house diocesan offices, and offered a televised

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every week. Attending the

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in Rome from 1962 to 1965, he also served as the assistant episcopal chair of lay organizations for the

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Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Cleveland

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appointed Issenmann as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of the Diocese of Cleveland and titular bishop of ''Filaca'' on October 7, 1964. He was installed on February 2, 1965, at St. John's Cathedral in Cleveland. Issenmann automatically succeeded Bishop Edward Hoban as the seventh bishop of Cleveland on September 22, 1966. As bishop, he constructed the following schools in the diocese: * Villa Angela Academy in Cleveland, * Lake Catholic High School in Mentor * Lorain Catholic High School in Lorain * St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron In November 1968, Issenmann asked all adults attending mass in the diocese to sign petitions of support for ''

Humanae vitae (Latin, meaning 'Of Human Life') is an encyclical written by Pope Paul VI and dated 25 July 1968. The text was issued at a Vatican press conference on 29 July. Subtitled ''On the Regulation of Birth'', it re-affirmed the teaching of the Catho ...

,'' Pope Paul VI's 1969 encyclical against artificial birth control. Issenmann was the only bishop in the country to make that request of parishioners.

Retirement and legacy

After suffering several

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

s, Issenmann requested early retirement from the pope. His resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland was accepted by

on June 5, 1974. After his retirement, Issenmann continued to live in Cleveland. Clarence Issenmann died in Cleveland on July 27, 1982, at age 75. He was interred in the Resurrection

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

in St. John's Cathedral.

References

External links

Catholic-HierarchyDiocese of Columbus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Issenmann, Clarence George 1907 births 1982 deaths Saint Joseph's College (Indiana) alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Regis University alumni Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati Roman Catholic bishops of Columbus Roman Catholic bishops of Cleveland 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Hamilton, Ohio