18 Facts About Lawrence Scanlan

Lawrence Scanlan was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church.

Lawrence Scanlan received his early education at a private school in Cashel conducted by a Mr Delahunt and at St Patrick's College in Thurles.

In 1863, Lawrence Scanlan entered All Hallows College in Dublin, which had been founded 20 years earlier to train missionaries for English-speaking countries.

Lawrence Scanlan studied for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, possibly inspired by the example of Eugene O'Connell, an All Hallows professor who had been recruited by Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany in 1850 and made Vicar Apostolic of Marysville in 1860.

Lawrence Scanlan departed Ireland in July 1868, eventually arriving at San Francisco in November.

Lawrence Scanlan served for a few months at St Mary's Cathedral before being loaned to his countryman Bishop Eugene O'Connell and given his own parish, Holy Rosary Church in Woodland.

Lawrence Scanlan remained at Petaluma until the summer of 1873, when Archbishop Alemany appointed him to missionary work in the Utah Territory, which had been entrusted to the Archdiocese of San Francisco two years earlier.

Lawrence Scanlan arrived at Salt Lake City in August 1873, marking the beginning of his 42-year career in Utah.

Lawrence Scanlan found himself in charge of the largest parish in the United States, covering nearly 85,000 square miles and including only one church to serve a total of 800 Catholics.

Lawrence Scanlan worked as a circuit rider, visiting the Catholics scattered throughout the territory and establishing churches where he went.

In 1878, Lawrence Scanlan was named vicar forane by Archbishop Alemany, making him the superior of all Catholic priests in Utah.

In September 1886, Lawrence Scanlan opened All Hallows College at Salt Lake City, serving on the original faculty and even residing at the college from 1887 to 1889.

Lawrence Scanlan turned the college's management over to the Marist Fathers in 1889 and they operated All Hallows until it closed in 1918.

On January 25,1887, Lawrence Scanlan was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Utah and titular bishop of Laranda.

Four years later, the vicariate was elevated to the Diocese of Salt Lake and Lawrence Scanlan was named its first bishop on January 30,1891.

Lawrence Scanlan eventually agreed to accept an auxiliary bishop and arrangements were made for the appointment of Joseph Sarsfield Glass, a Los Angeles priest.

However, Lawrence Scanlan's health took a turn for the worse before Glass could be formally appointed.

Lawrence Scanlan died on May 10,1915, at Holy Cross Hospital, aged 71.