Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-02-23
PHILADELPHIA PRELATE PAYS
TRIBUTE TO BISHOP SHANAHAN
ASPRIEST, ,CHURCHHEAD,C CITIZEN
Mourners Who Throng Edi-
fee Hear of His UnselGsh
Life, Untiring Efforts, I'm
ceasing LoUe; Points to
Career of Beloved Digni-
tary as Example to the
Priesthood

tGry as Example to the
Priesthood
and of religion. If children are to be
true to themselves, loyal to the state
and faithful to their God, they must
be pronerly educated.
His Work i'm Philadelphia
Fifty years ago the condition OF
our schools, parochial and public, was
not ideal. some were good and some
were inefficient 1t was then that
Father Shanahan associated himself
with leaders of thought in the Church
and in the State to improve the con-
ditions of our children. The trusted
assistant of a venerable priest in Man
ayunk he succeeded in erecting and
euuipping one of the best schools that
then existed in Philadelphia Taking
up the burden of the pastoral office. he
found our schools hampered by con-
ditions that necessity had created. In
many parishes private academies had
been opened to help bear the cost OF
education; these, he said. were un-
American. creating artificial distinc-
tions that should not exist here, and
retarding the efficiency of the par
ish school. He would have all chill
dren treated alike and what the poor
could not have, he would not give 10
those of more abundant means. Keep |
of the land, he built his parish school,
studiously attending to every detail
introducing methods then most ap-
proved-it was a model school. At
tracted by his zeal and by his success
the archbishop asked him to become |
the first superintendent OF parochlal
schools. BY intelligent endeavor he
Ico-ordinated the school system OF
! Philadelphia. arranged n common
course of studies, provided for the
proper preparation of the teachers,
and with the support of his bishop
and with the cooperation OF the
clergy, laid the foundation OF our
present school system. His successor
has brought to the work the same
zeal, the same intelligent endeaVor
and has the same generous and en-
J lightened support of his archbishop
and the clergy, and building upon
the foundations. placed broad and
deep by Father Shanahan, gives to the
children of our people a system of
education which we are fain to believe
is unsurpassed in this broad land.
His Elevation
Seventeen years ago the voice of
the sovereign. pontiif called Father
Shanahan from the fruitful field of his
labors to the exalted dignity of the
episcopal Office. No one probably
was more surprised than Father
Shanahan when it was made known
that he had been nominated for the
vacant See of Harrisburg; for he had
ever led retired life and was rarely
found even in the gatherings of his
brethren Few men have been so
deeply moved by the announcement
| of their elevation; he was ever fear
! full of responsibility and his whole ma
ture shrank from the new burden. In
vain he begged the Holy See not TO
place it upon him, as a year before, ne
| had Vainy requested his archbishop
/ TO relieve him of pastoral cares. The
Iperemptory command came that he
should receive episcopal conservation.
| For him it was as the voice of God, to
which he unreservedly submitted. Non
recuso lahorem. | do not refuse the
labor. Then began those years of anX-
ious labor and unceaSing toll that have
been so fruitful for the diocese of
HarrisbuT%.
His First Thought
"A scattered population and limited
resources had made it impossible for
| his predecessors to give to this do
cese Il complete ecclesiastical equip
ment and to him it remained to do the
work that was as yet undone. The
sense of his responsibilities was ever
with him and urged him on to works.
that to some seemed rash and to 9TH
ers impossible. But he would not be
diverted from his purposes. Did he
not have to watch as one who must
give an account of souls? His first
thought, as it had always been, was
the care Of the little ones. The orphans
of the diocese were without a home;
he gave them his own, and lived, he
cared not where. The homeless boy
needed protection from the dangers
that confront unguarded boyhood. He
built for them the Paradise protec-
tory The schools claimed his atten-
nd tbiG labor of love he
lavished the riches of his long and
fruitful experience. The system and
the methods that had proved so effl-
cient under his supervision i'll Phila-
delpi1ia. we're introduced as faH as
Dossible--improvcd IN after years by
ihc latest thought IN pedagogical
sciencc--this was the study of his
life. and to the end he preserved an
active interest in the education of the
young.
The Marks OF His Touch
"In the great territory that his dio-
cese covered there were scattered
faithful who found it difficult to dis
charge the duties of their religion. He
multiplied the churches, increased
the number of the priests and asked
his priests to be satisfied with little
for the sake of souls. But he went
before them as an example and did
not ask when he himself would not
give more. The Catneufal cnufcn Oh
Harrisburg was a modest chapel, he
urged l,is priests and people to erect
in the Cathedral city a worthy monu-
nent of their faith. And this glorious
Cathedral is the fruit of his inspir-
alton. Despite the infirmities of age
and of health that was never robust,
he ceaselessly traversed the diocese
committed to him and the marks of
his touch arc on every institution, and
the breath of his spirit has strength
ened every spiritual activity. The
charity of Christ urged him.
To Whom the Glory
But why should ! rehearse for you,
priests and people of Harrisburg, what
you know so well, the evidences of
that burning zeal, that would give him
no repose? And do ] claim for Bishop
Shanahan the glory of all that has
been accomplished these seventeen
years? No one would more readily
dsclaim Il than your departed bishop.
No bishop can do the whole work of
his diocese. He needs his clergy and
the clergy need the people. But it is
the glory of Bishop Shanahan that he
discovered the possibilities of his
diocese-that he rallied priests and
people to do the labor and to make
the sacrifices for work that was nee
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