[15] Arriving in 1792, Flaget opened a school and held classes at Saint Francis Xavier before he was recalled to Baltimore in 1795.

[20][21] On May 6, 1834, Pope Gregory XVI issued a papal bull to erect the Diocese of Vincennes, the first episcopal see in Indiana.

[25][27] Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière, Bruté's vicar general, was consecrated as bishop of Vincennes on August 18, 1839.

[29][30] Under de la Hailandière, the Sisters of Providence moved into the diocese and the Brothers of the Holy Cross established schools for boys.

[31] Indiana's population during this period grew slowly and the institutions de la Hailandière helped to establish experienced many problems.

Bazin's consecration took place at Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral on October 24, 1847,[34] making him the first bishop to be ordained in Indiana.

[37] During his tenure as bishop, de St. Palais had to contend with unresolved monetary issues from Hailandière's episcopacy, a cholera epidemic, and expanding the educational and ministerial opportunities within the diocese.

In 1849, Guerin established an orphanage in Vincennes and in 1853 monks from Einsiedeln, Switzerland, founded Saint Meinrad abbey and seminary in southern Indiana; however, plans to open a school for African Americans were never carried out.

[6][38] During the American Civil War, de St. Palais had to contend with the call for soldiers, and several priests from the diocese served as chaplains.

[40] Although de St. Palais recognized that Indianapolis had become a major city (the eighth largest in the United States by 1870), he deferred the decision to move the seat of the diocese to his successor, Silas Chatard.

[43][44] Chatard obtained permission from Pope Leo XIII to move the bishop's residence and diocesan chancery to Indianapolis in 1878, but the episcopal see remained at Vincennes.

[55][56] In 1937, Ritter ordered the racial integration of three girls' schools in the diocese, opening enrollment for all female students.

[56][60] Auxiliary Bishop Edward T. O'Meara of Saint Louis, installed as archbishop of Indianapolis in 1980,[55] reorganized the archdiocesan offices and consolidated them into one location at the Catholic Center.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Christopher J. Coyne as auxiliary bishop in Indianapolis to assist Buechlein in March 2011.

A Catholic high school teacher in a same-sex marriage was fired and afterward sued the archdiocese on July 10, 2019, for discrimination and interfering with his teaching contract.

Meanwhile, the archdiocese said in July 2019 that Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis was no longer recognized as a Catholic institution due to its refusal to fire a teacher in a same-sex marriage.

In September 2018, the archdiocese suspended Patrick Doyle, a priest at Nativity Catholic Church, from public ministry after receiving an allegation of sexual abuse by him dating back several decades.

[68] David Marcotte, an archdiocesan priest, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to felony dissemination of matter harmful to minors.

In 2016, Marcotte was using social media to send pornographic materials to minors and to recruit them to engage in sexual conversations.

These murals include: The diocese obtained 14 oil paintings from France to illustrate the Stations of the Cross in the church.

[80] Saint John the Evangelist Church is the main structure in a cluster of parish buildings on the southwest corner of Georgia Street and Capitol Avenue in Indianapolis.

Oscar Bohlen designed the twin spires on the towers that flank the main facade and supervised their construction.

Following the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the diocese removed the communion rail, repositioned the altar to allow the priest to face the congregation, and moved the baptismal font to the left transept.

Anticipating the episcopal see's relocation from Vincennes to Indianapolis, Chatard purchased additional lots by the chapel in 1894 to build a cathedral.

[93] Saints Peter and Paul became the cathedral parish on March 28, 1898, when Leo XIII officially transferred the seat of the diocese to Indianapolis from Vincennes.

[94][86] James Renwick Jr.'s architectural firm in New York used the Classical Revival-style to design the cathedral, rectory, and adjacent chapel.

[99] Chatard and Chartrand were initially buried in the cathedral's crypt, but their remains were removed and interred at Calvary Cemetery in Indianapolis in 1976.

[101][102] Chatard commissioned the sculptor Cesare Aureli to carve the Blessed Mother and Child and Saint Joseph statues in the cathedral in white Carrara marble.

The archdiocese established the Cristo Rey Project with the Sisters of Providence to assist low income students in 2006.

It was founded in 1854 by monks from the Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland to meet the needs of a growing German-speaking Catholic population in Indiana.