Mass Excursions

From immigrant roots to dynamite blast, Sacred Heart in Clinton survives and serves

By Natalie Hoefer

In the late 1800s, coal was king in Vermillion County, located along the middle of the Indiana’s border with Illinois. There were numerous mines, and with them came a need for numerous miners.

It was difficult work. Yet immigrants from Europe flocked to the county seeking employment, bringing their families with them.

They came from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scotland and more. Many of them were Catholics who settled in the town of Clinton.

At first, the Catholics were served as a mission community. But by 1889, their population had grown large enough to found a parish.

A home was converted into a church, and St. Patrick Parish was established in 1891.

But the immigrants and families kept coming. A second church was built in 1894—and outgrown within 14 years.

A third church, designed after Thurles Cathedral in Ireland, was constructed in 1909, and the parish was renamed Sacred Heart.

Nearly 120 years later, the mines have long since closed. But beautiful Sacred Heart Church still stands in Clinton, and the parishioners continue to witness to the faith in their local community.

‘Very supportive’ of community, each other

Father Joby Puthussery, pastor of Sacred Heart, calls the members of the parish “very supportive” of one another and of the parish’s outreach ministries.

“We help the community in different ways, and [the parishioners] support in whatever ways they can,” he says.

“We always have a collection box for donations of food and specific articles requested by a local food pantry. We have a special focus on that at Advent and Lent, but it’s there year-round. Every week [the parishioners] fill the basket.”

The parish also supports a children’s backpack program led by a local Baptist congregation at Christmas time.

Father Puthussery gratefully adds that parishioners are also “happy to support the priests. I’m very happy with the way they take care of their priests. I feel appreciated and needed there. That itself is a great feeling.”

Outreach flows from love of Christ, and the parish offers several ways to express and nurture that love.

In keeping with the Sacred Heart devotion, first Fridays of the month are observed with eucharistic adoration from the conclusion of the regular 9 a.m. Mass until noon.

“We also celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart with adoration and Mass, and then we have a parish dinner,” says Father Puthussery.

And every Wednesday the rosary is prayed at the parish’s outdoor Marian grotto.

The grotto, commissioned by Sacred Heart’s previous pastor Father Varghese Maliakkal, is one feature Father Puthussery suggests visitors see.

He also notes the church’s “beautiful, beautiful pictures in the stained-glass windows.”

That the 1909 church still stands is a blessing. The same year it was built, there was an attempt to demolish the structure with dynamite.

A Nov. 17, 1909, article in the Journal and Courier of Lafayette, Ind., reported that “300 sticks of dynamite, enough to have blown up the neighborhood, were found in different parcels around the church. Most of the fuses had been clumsily set and failed to explode the charges.”

The sticks that did explode caused $1,000 in damage to the front of the church.

There were many guesses as to who was behind the crime—from disgruntled parishioners to angry labor union workers to an Italian mafia ring known as the Black Hand.

More than a century later, the culprits and motive remain a mystery.

‘We love having visitors’

Whether or not the mafia existed in Clinton, at the turn of the last century there was an Italian immigrant community large enough that Clinton’s northwest area became known as “Little Italy.”

That heritage continues today with the city’s Little Italy Fest, held annually for four days spanning Labor Day weekend.

“We have our famous Spaghetti Festa each day of the event,” says Father Puthussery. “It’s a big fundraiser for Sacred Heart.”

Since he arrived as pastor in 2020, Father Puthussery has introduced another type of food to the parish: Indian.

“At times, I have conducted a cooking class with an elaborate Indian meal at the parish,” says the priest who was ordained in 1999 for the Archdiocese of Imphal, India.

According to parish business manager Cheryl Phelps, “The food is so good—just delicious. He makes food in advance, then he brings a portable stove and shows you how to cook what he made.”

And don’t worry, says Father Puthussery, “I make it mild since many people will be there.”

The next event will be held at the parish at 6 p.m. on May 8. The $25 cost includes the meal, a drink and dessert. Reservations are required by May 1 and can be made by calling the parish office (see below).

“If you like Indian food, this is the place to be,” Phelps says. You don’t want to miss this event, and we love having visitors here.”

That invitation extends beyond the event, says Father Puthussery.

“Our parishioners are very proud of Sacred Heart,” he says. “A lot of people come during the Little Italy Fest, but we welcome people any time of the year.”
 

(Sacred Heart Parish is located at 610 S. 6th St. in Clinton. For more information, go to parkevermillioncatholicchurches.org. To attend the Indian meal event on May 8, call the parish office at 765-832-8468 by May 1. Mass Excursions is a periodic feature highlighting archdiocesan parishes. View past features at archindy.org/excursions.) †