 In the early 1870s, when the Bishop of Vincennes, Jacques Maurice de St. Palais, visited Indianapolis, he resided at Saint Johns rectory and used the church as his proto-cathedral.Although the bishop considered making Indianapolis the episcopal see of the Diocese of Vincennes, he deferred the decision to Silas Chatard, his successor.Saint Johns served as the proto-cathedral of the diocese from 1878, when Bishop Silas Chatard established his residence and chancery there, until 1906, when Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral was built in Indianapolis.