Early life and education Schuler was born on September 20, 1869, in
St. Marys,
Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of four children of Joseph and Albertina (née Algaier) Schuler, both immigrants from
Oberprechtal in Germany. In 1876, the family moved to
Georgetown,
Colorado, where Schuler's father worked in the
gold mines of Chicago Creek. After his father died in a mining accident in 1883, Schuler was mentored by his local Catholic priest, Reverend
Nicholas Chrysostom Matz. Schuler later recalled that he, "became a father to me in every way." When the archdiocese assigned Matz to a Denver parish in 1885, Schuler moved there also. After hearing a sermon from Reverend
Arnold Damen, a prominent Jesuit missionary, Schuler decided to join the order. He studied at St. Stanislaus and
Saint Louis University in
St. Louis, Missouri. In1893, Schuler was appointed to the faculty of Sacred Heart College (now
Regis University) in Denver. He remained there for five years, then moved to
Woodstock College in
Woodstock, Maryland, to complete his theological studies.
Priesthood While at Woodstock, Schuler was ordained a priest for the Jesuits on June 27, 1901, by Cardinal
Sebastiano Martinelli, the
Apostolic Delegate to the United States. Schuler professed his final vows as a Jesuit on March 25, 1908.
Bishop of El Paso On June 17, 1915, Schuler was named the first bishop of El Paso by
Pope Benedict XV. Rome accepted Brown's resignation and selected Schuler instead. Schuler received his episcopal consecration on October 28, 1915, from Archbishop
John Baptist Pitaval, with Bishops
Patrick A. McGovern and
Henry Regis Granjon serving as co-consecrators, at the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. On November 11, 1915, Schuler was installed at Immaculate Conception Church in El Paso. At the beginning of Schuler's tenure in 1915, the diocese contained 31 priests, 22 parishes, 58 missions, nine parochial schools, and three academies to serve 64,440 Catholics. By the end of Schuler's tenure 27 years later in 1942, there was a Catholic population of 121,854, as well as 118 priests, 49 parishes, 97 missions, 12 parochial schools, and five academies. With Immaculate Conception Church being too small to accommodate the growing congregation, Schuler laid the cornerstone of a new cathedral in El Paso on November 12, 1916. The
Cathedral of St. Patrick was officially dedicated on November 29, 1917. During the
Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920, Schuler provided refuge in the diocese for the many Catholic clergy and religious orders who fled persecution in Mexico. Described as a "liberal" by the
El Paso Times, Schuler was known to be tolerant of other faiths; speakers at the 1936 celebration of his 50 years as a Jesuit included the
Episcopal bishop
Frederick Bingham Howden and the Jewish rabbi
Martin Zielonka. He also declared there was "no harm" in
betting on horse racing, saying, "It is not a sin in itself, the sin lying in the abuse of it." With a successor in place, Schuler announced his resignation as bishop of El Paso on November 22, 1942. He received the honorary title of
titular bishop of
Aradus on November 29th from
Pope Pius XII. Schuler spent his retirement at Regis University, where he died on June 3, 1944, at age 74. He was originally buried at
Concordia Cemetery in El Paso, but his remains were later moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery of the same city in 1983. ==References==