The Bishop who started the National Shrine

Today in 1932 marks the death of Bishop Thomas J. Shahan (1857-1932), fourth Rector of The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Born to immigrant parents in New Hampshire, he studied for the priesthood in Montreal and in Rome, where he was ordained in 1882. While he was in Rome he earned a doctorate in theology. After a short time in parish work, Father Shahan was named Chancellor of the Diocese of Hartford. In 1888, he was invited to join the faculty of America’s new pontifical university in the nation’s capitol. Before going there he studied in Berlin and Paris. In 1891 he started teaching early Church History at Catholic University. Shahan was a major force behind the publication of the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia (still an in valuable resource) and wrote over two hundred articles on it. In 1909 he was named university rector, and in 1914 he was named a bishop. (Until the 1960’s, the CUA rectorship carried a bishop’s rank with it. Presumably it still could.) As rector he oversaw the expansion of the faculty, the student body, and the campus buildings. He also started contruction on the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Among other things he was active in the creation of the American Catholic Historical Association, and served as President of the Catholic Educational Association for nineteen years. In 1928, Bishop Shahan retired after nineteen years at the helm of the university and died in 1932.