Fr. Avella Examines Three More Archbishops

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee installed its 12th archbishop Tuesday, Jan. 14. The same day, Fr. Steven Avella’s latest book, “Three More Archbishops of Milwaukee,” became available.

This historical account chronicles the lives and ministries of Cardinal Samuel Alphonsus Stritch (who was Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1930-40), Archbishop Moses Elias Kiley (1940-53) and Cardinal Albert Gregory Meyer (1953-58).

Fr. Avella’s favorite archbishop of the three he chronicled was Cardinal Stritch. He regards him as a fascinating man but was prone to depression, likely due in part to the financial difficulties he faced while leading the Archdiocese of Milwaukee during the Great Depression.

“Stritch likely suffered from a form of clinical depression — he would lock himself in his room and become quite morose,” Fr. Avella said. “Fortunately, he had people who would snap him out of it. Given what he faced, no one could blame him.

“I spent weeks and weeks going through his correspondence — seeing all the things he was involved with church administration, urban planning, racial transition, post-war geopolitics and internal debates over religious liberty,” Fr. Avella continued. “He was a benign and kind-hearted man with definite ideas about how the Church should relate to the world. He, Moses Kiley and Albert Meyer were deeply influenced by their studies in Rome in the early 20th century. Milwaukee and its Church were ‘Romanized’ during their times.”

The seminary curriculum and the professors all adapted to Roman methods and ideology, including the Cathedral, which was transformed from a quaint European church to a Roman basilica by Archbishop Kiley, Fr. Avella said.

“Meyer quoted papal documents more than Scripture. The collective impact of Roman theology, organization, utter loyalty to the pope and Roman ideas about organization and church order left a major imprint on Milwaukee’s Catholic church,” Fr. Avella said.

Fr. Avella, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has been interested in history since fourth grade, when he learned about the Civil War in school and through his family’s Life Magazines.

“The magazines had all kinds of pictures, which drew me in. I was terrible in math but did well in history in high school, majored in it in college, taught it in high school, and more intensely in grad school and seminary studies,” Fr. Avella said. “My work on Milwaukee history led to this book. I had covered these topics before, but arranging my data in this book was an opportunity to offer a new perspective.”

Fr. Avella said that he interviewed many of the people quoted in his book. Many of them have since died, but the recordings are still available.

“Just as important, I was able to do more research in the Archives of the Vatican — letters, reports, commentary — it’s mostly open and there for students,” he said. “The opportunity to research in Rome was made possible by the generous support of Marquette and other benefactors and the Salvatorian Fathers, who allowed me to stay at their Generalate just a short walk from the Vatican Archives.”

From 1991 until his retirement in June, Fr. Avella was a professor of history at the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University. In 2020, he received the Lawrence G. Haggerty Research Award for Research Excellence, which recognizes scholarly distinction at Marquette University and is the school’s highest honor for research and scholarship.

Additionally, he taught at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, and Cardinal Stritch University.

With his doctoral research on Cardinal Meyer’s life, Fr. Avella was among the first to study the papers he left behind in Superior, Milwaukee and Chicago. He was also among the first to study Cardinal Stritch’s papers.

Fr. Avella is currently writing a book on the history of the Catholic Church’s impact on Wisconsin, a full biography of Cardinal Stritch, and a history of Catholic life in the 20th-century American West.

While Fr. Avella did not plan his book’s publication date when Milwaukee welcomed its new archbishop, he said it is good to know what challenges these men faced and understand more about their personalities.

“God uses the weak and makes them strong in bearing witness to him,” he said. “Our new archbishop inherits a rich tradition and a cast of characters who helped to shape the church he now serves.”

The book follows an earlier one, “Three Archbishops of Milwaukee,” written by Fr. Benjamin Blied, a professional historian, former seminary teacher and pastor of a rural parish in Johnsburg. His book provided information on three relatively unknown Milwaukee prelates: Archbishops Michael Heiss, Frederick X. Katzer and Sebastian Gebhard Messmer.

“Three More Archbishops of Milwaukee” by Fr. Steven M. Avella is available through Amazon. Fr. Avella also hopes to have it carried in local Catholic bookstores.

Fr. Avella will host a book signing Tuesday, Feb. 11, at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, 7335 S. Lovers Lane Road, Franklin. The event begins at 5:15 p.m. with Vespers. A reception in the lobby begins at 6 p.m., followed by a discussion from 6:30-7 p.m. There will be time available for book signings. Bring your book for the signing. Limited books will also be available to purchase at the event.