Father Paul Landwerlen, longtime parish priest, ‘lived his promises to Christ’

Father Paul Landwerlen preaches a homily during a May 4 Mass at St. Joseph Church in Shelbyville that celebrated the 70th anniversary of his ordination as an archdiocesan priest. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Father Paul Landwerlen, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, died on May 26 at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis from complications of a surgery after he fell the day before. He was 97.

Visitation will be from 1-4 p.m. on June 1 at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 4218 E. Michigan Road, in Shelbyville. The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. on June 2 at St. Vincent. Burial will follow at the parish cemetery.

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson will be the principal celebrant. Father Michael Keucher, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County, will be the homilist.

Ordained in 1954, Father Landwerlen, at the time of his death, was the senior priest of the Church in central and southern Indiana. (Related story from 2024: At 96, priest continues to show youthful vitality after 70 years of ministry)

Father Keucher had developed a deep friendship with Father Landwerlen since he began his ministry at St. Vincent and St. Joseph in 2018. Father Landwerlen lived in retirement in Shelby County.

They met and spoke frequently, including each Friday night at St. Joseph’s perpetual adoration chapel. Father Landwerlen prayed there from 10-11p.m. on Fridays. Father Keucher took the 11p.m.-midnight shift.

In an interview with The Criterion, Father Keucher recalled what Father Landwerlen said to him as the older priest left the chapel on May 23, just three days before he died.

“He was walking out when he said, ‘I’m looking forward to the day I never have to leave the presence of Jesus,’ ” Father Keucher said.

Father Keucher paused and then added, “He always talked about heaven. I doubt he ever preached a homily where he didn’t talk about heaven and the Eucharist, which is the way to heaven. Father Paul had been preparing for heaven his whole life. He had been ready to go there for a long time.”

At a Mass on May 4, 2024, at St. Joseph Church in Shelbyville to celebrate the 70th anniversary of his ordination, Father Landwerlen indeed spoke about heaven and the Eucharist, as well as his life and ministry as a priest.

“It isn’t about me,” he said during his homily. “It’s about God. That’s what this is all about. You’re not celebrating me. I really didn’t do anything. God did it all.

“It’s about his blessings and his love for us—the Eucharist, the Mass. Without the priest, there would be no Mass, no Eucharist. This is our heavenly liturgy. It’s something that was ordained in heaven. This is from God.”

When Father Keucher began his ministry in Shelbyville, he had been a priest for just two years. He was nearly 60 years younger than Father Landwerlen, who had been ordained more than 30 years before Father Keucher was even born.

“Father Paul showed me what it is to be a priest, what it is to be a pastor,” said Father Keucher, who also serves as archdiocesan vocations director. “The priesthood was not what he did. The priesthood was who he was. Everything about him was about the priesthood.”

In reflecting on the legacy of Father Landwerlen, Father Keucher said that he couldn’t point to a church or a school where he had overseen its construction. Father Landwerlen in his decades of priestly ministry hadn’t overseen any large building project.

But he had given great care to the building up of the faith of his parishioners.

“His legacy is his people,” Father Keucher said. “His legacy is the spirit of prayer and devotion in the hearts and souls of the people who were fortunate enough to be his parishioners over the years.

“They saw in him a man totally devoted to God. And they then wanted to be more devoted to God themselves. That’s the most important legacy of all.”’

One of those parishioners was Janet Brewer, a member of St. Vincent Parish since 1969.

She recalled how Father Landwerlen came to her faith community in 1996 when he was 67, just three years before he could retire from active ministry

“But he didn’t understand that word,” said Brewer with a laugh.

Father Landwerlen ended up serving as the pastor or administrator of St. Vincent for 17 years, retiring at 85. Even then, the priest continued to drive to parishes across central and southern Indiana to provide sacramental assistance well into his 90s.

Brewer described Father Landwerlen as “a million-dollar priest.”

“Holiness just emanated from him,” Brewer said. “His demeanor, everything about him—you just knew that there was a lot of holiness there. He lived his promises to Christ.”

Paul Ernest Landwerlen was born to Martin and Mildred (Werden) Landwerlen on Jan. 28, 1928, in Indianapolis where he grew up as a member of St. Joan of Arc Parish. He attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis before becoming an archdiocesan seminarian and enrolling at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in education.

Archbishop Paul C. Schulte ordained Father Landwerlen a priest on May 3, 1954, at the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln in St. Meinrad.

Father Landwerlen’s first assignment was as associate pastor of the former St. Andrew Parish in Richmond (now part of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish there), where he served from 1954-59.

He then ministered as associate pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis from 1959-64. This was followed by service as associate pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Seymour and the former Our Lady of Providence Parish in Brownstown from 1964-68.

Father Landwerlen was assigned as a pastor for the first time in 1968 and led St. Mary Parish in Mitchell for two years. During that time, he also served Our Lord Jesus Christ the King Parish in Paoli as administrator.

From 1970-76, Father Landwerlen ministered as pastor of the former Holy Trinity Parish in Indianapolis. That was followed up by his service as pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville from 1976-82.

He then ministered as pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis from 1982-96.

In 1996, Father Landwerlen was assigned as the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County and dean pro-tem of the Batesville Deanery.

He continued to lead St. Vincent as either its pastor or administrator until retiring in 2013.

This last ministry assignment brought Father Landwerlen to a faith community deeply tied to his family. His great-grandparents had been members of St. Vincent when they emigrated to the U.S. in 1854. And Father Francis Joseph Rudolf, a great uncle of Father Landwerlen, had served as St. Vincent’s pastor from 1868-81.

Father Landwerlen is survived by his brother, Richard Landwerlen of Greenwood.

Memorial contributions can be sent to St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 4218 E. Michigan Road, Shelbyville, IN 46176. †