{{short description|19th and 20th-century American Catholic bishop}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Richard Scannell | title = Bishop of Omaha | image = Richard Scannell.jpg | alt = | caption = | church = Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = Diocese of Omaha | term = 30 January 1891 –<br>8 January 1916 | predecessor = James O'Connor | successor = Jeremiah James Harty <!-- Orders -->| ordination = 26 February 1871 | ordinated_by = | consecration = 30 November 1887 | consecrated_by = Patrick Feehan | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = {{birth date|1845|5|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Cloyne, County Cork, Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|1916|1|8|1845|5|12|df=y}} | death_place = Omaha, Nebraska, US | previous_post = Bishop of Concordia<br>(1887–1891) | alma_mater = | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Right Reverend | education = All Hallows College | ordained_by = John Francis Whelan | motto = ''Justitia et pax''<br>(Justice and peace) }} '''Richard Scannell''' (12 May 1845 – 8 January 1916) was an Irish-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Concordia in Kansas (1887–1891) and as bishop of the Diocese of Omaha in Nebraska (1891–1916).
==Biography==
=== Early life === Richard Scannell was born on 12 May 1845, in Cloyne, County Cork, in Ireland to Patrick and Johanna (née Collins) Scannell.<ref name="salina">{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina |title=Bishop Richard Scannell: 1887-1898 |url=http://salinadiocese.org/about-us/history |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524043944/http://salinadiocese.org/about-us/history |archivedate=May 24, 2010 }}</ref> After completing his classical studies in a private school at Midleton, Ireland,<ref name="catholic">{{cite news|work=Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Omaha|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11249b.htm}}</ref> he entered All Hallows College in Dublin in 1866.
=== Priesthood === Scannell was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop John Francis Whelan in Dublin for the Diocese of Nashville in Tennessee, on 26 February 1871.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bishop Richard Scannell [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bscannell.html |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref> He arrived in the United States later in 1871 and was assigned by the diocese as a curate at Holy Rosary Cathedral Parish in Nashville. In 1878, he became pastor of St. Columba's Parish in East Nashville, Tennessee.<ref name="catholic" /> He returned to the cathedral as rector in 1879.
Following the transfer of Bishop Patrick Feehan to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Scannell served as apostolic administrator for the diocese from 1880 to 1883. After a leave of absence for health reasons, he organized St. Joseph's Parish in West Nashville and built its church in 1885. In August 1886, Scannell was appointed vicar general of the diocese.<ref name="salina" />
=== Bishop of Concordia === On 9 August 1887, Scannell was appointed as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Concordia by Pope Leo XIII.<ref name=":0" /> He received his episcopal consecration on 30 November 1887, from Archbishop Feehan, with Bishops William McCloskey and Joseph Rademacher serving as co-consecrators, at St. Joseph's Church.<ref name=":0" />
With only 20 resident pastors in Concordia and a growing Catholic population, Scannell attempted to solve the priest shortage by establishing a preparatory seminary in Belleville, Kansas, laying its cornerstone in June 1890.<ref name="salina" /> However, due to an economic depression, the seminary was never built and left a long-lasting debt. During his three-year-long tenure, Scannell also assisted the Sisters of St. Joseph to become permanently established in the diocese, erected fifteen churches, and increased the number of diocesan priests from five to twenty-two.<ref name="salina" />
=== Bishop of Omaha === thumb|St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha, Nebraska (2007) Scannell was named by Leo XIII to succeed Bishop James O'Connor as bishop of Omaha on 30 January 1891.<ref name=":0" /> Under his governance, the cornerstone of St. Cecilia Cathedral was laid in 1907.<ref name="omaha">{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha|title=Bishop Richard Scannell|url=http://www.archomaha.org/aboutus/scannell.html}}</ref> He also oversaw the diocese's expansion to 95 parishes, serving more than 80,000 Catholics.<ref name="omaha" /> Parochial schools and diocesan priests more than doubled in number, and increases were also made among religious.<ref name="catholic" />
Scannell erected the Creighton Memorial St. Joseph's Hospital and St. Catherine's Hospital, both in Omaha, along with a home of the Good Shepherd. He also introduced the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, Sisters of St. Joseph, Presentation Sisters, Sisters of the Resurrection, Sisters of St. Benedict, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Good Shepherd Sisters, the Dominicans, Felicians, Ursulines, and Franciscans to the diocese.<ref name="catholic" />
=== Death === Richard Scannell died on 8 January 1916, in Omaha at age 70.<ref name=":0" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=Bishop of Concordia | before=None | after=John Francis Cunningham| years=1887–1891 }} {{succession box | title=Bishop of Omaha | before=James O'Connor | after=Jeremiah James Harty| years=1891–1916 }} {{s-end}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scannell, Richard}} Category:1845 births Category:1916 deaths Category:People from Cloyne Category:Christian clergy from County Cork Category:Alumni of All Hallows College, Dublin Category:Irish Roman Catholic missionaries Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States Category:American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Category:Diocese of Nashville Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Concordia Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Omaha Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Irish missionaries in the United States