Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-02-19

Rev. Thomas McGoVern the second
bishop of the diocese. Later he en-
tered the Overlook Seminary and
was ordained a priest in 1869 by his
brother, the first bishop. He served
at various parishes in and about Phil
adelphia and while pastor of the
church of Our Mother of Sorrows,
Philadelphia, Bishop McGovern died,
Father Shanahan was a very popular
churchman in Philadelphia. especial
ly among the children, and during his
pastorate there the Shanahan club,
which still bears his name. was organ
ized
Appointed by Leo XIII.
Bishop McGovern died July 25,
1898, but il was not until January 4,
1899, that Pope Leo XIII. appointed
Either Shanahan as head of this dio-
cese. Father Shanahan at first de-
clined the honor and only accepted in
response to a papal command from
Rome. On May l, 1899. he was con-
secrated bishop. The ceremony of in
stallation took place in the old Pro-
Cathedral. which the new bishop soon
decided would have to be replaced
with handsome new edifice.
Bishop Shanahan occupied the time
during the first few months after his
consecration in visiting the various
parishes in the diocese and looking af-
ter their needs and welfare. The con-
clusion he reached following these Wis
It's was that the diocese needed homes
for orphan boys and girls, more par
ishes and new cathedral
Founded 20 New Parishes
In 1899 when Bishop Shanahan
came to Harrisburg there were but
two Catholic churches here, st. Pat
rick's Pro-Cathedral and st. Law
renee German Catholic Church.
Both We're located near the central
part OF the town. Harrisburg was
growing and new plots on the out
skirts of the thickly settled section,
were being laid out. Naturally Cath
olic families were moving into those
parts too, so the bishop decided to
open two missions. One was located
in the eastern section of the city at
Sylvan Heights and was known as st.
Francis mlssIon. t. other, st. Mary's
of the city. Both were attached to
the Pro-Cathedral parish. Within
few months the experiment proved so
successful that in 1901 the st. Fran
els Mission was made a parish and
plans were made for a church build
ing. In the same year the Sacred
Heart parish was established. How
ever, it was not until 1907 that the
st. Mary's Mission had a congregation
large enough to support a church and
become a separate parish and in that
same year plans were made for a new
church. The bishop was so pleased
with the outcome of his efforts to es-
tablish more parishes in the city that
he made arrangements for others in
the remaining section of the diocese.
During the time he was bishop twenty
new parishes were founded, seven mis-
sions were raised to parishes and
half C#Een more missions were estab-
lished. Plans were under way at the
time of his death for establishing a
mission at Hershey.
Home For Orphans
The second item on the bishops
program, to arrange a suitable home
for orphan children, was no less an
urgent need than the building of
churches. The Harrisburg diocese
was without an orphanage, but he be-
lieved that some means could be
found to establish and maintain one
for girls at least. With the many rail-
roads, steel works, mines and other
varied Industries in Central Pennsyl-
vania, the bishop recognized that a
largo number Of children would lose
their natural protectors and the
founding OF an orphans asylum was
one thing which occupied his mind at
all times.
After deliberating for a compara-
lively short period, Bishop Shanahan
finally announced that he had found
a plan and he resolved to transform
the old episcopal residence at Sylvan
Heights intoa home for orphan girls.
The project met with the hearty ap-
proVal of the. clergy and laity of the
diocese and the Catholic population
assumed the burden of an
of one dollar per head to
cover the expenses. In 1900 a new
wing was added to the old mansion
and this contained school rooms and
a chapel. Within a few months the
great gray building underwent
changes so that 100 children could be
accommodated. In later years quite
a number more children were cared
for.
Diocesan Farm For Boys
After the girls were cared for, the
bishop set about to make plans to ac-
commodate orphan boys. At length,
in 1907. some gifts from several phil
persons paved the way and
with this money as a nucleus, the
bishop resolved to erect a big build
ing on a diocesan farm at Paradise,
York county. The original gifts, in
addition to those received later, per-
mitted the work on the orphan home
for boys to be carried on O consider
able way. A second assessment was
levied on the Catholics of the diocese
and with this cheerfully given, a model
agricultural school and home was the
result of the bishops work. The orig
inal buildings were erected to accom-
modate $50 boys. The boys orphan
age was opened in 1910 and since that
time there has been an average at
tendance of so boys in the school.
Great Cathedral Built
Between the dates of the opening
of the girls and boys orphanages
Bishop Shanahan was ut work on the
third item of his program-the erec-
ton of q cathedral in this city. The
original ST. Patricks church was
built in 1927 and 1t was quaint old
brick structure. In 1873 1T was con-
siderahly enlarged and handsomely
decorated but from that time until
the time Bishop Shanahan was conse-
Grated it outgrew its beauty and was
too small for the enlarged congrega-
ton. The Bishop believed the time
had arrived for a dignned building
and consequently in 1909 the plans
drawn up for the proposed building
by George L. LoVatt, were accepted
Within period of three years the
edifice was completed and dedicated
and now 1t stands one of the hand
soonest church buildings in the coun-
try and place visited by all sight
seers coming to Harrisburg. The
structure cost $1S5,000 and through
the Bishops efforts 100000 of this
amount was contributed by the
diocese. While the church was in the
course of erection the Cathedral