Mike Scanlan, Leader of Charismatic Catholic Renewal, Dies at 85

Father Mike Scanlan, who played a big role in the early days of the Charismatic Catholic renewal, passed away on January 7 at 85 years old after battling a long illness. 

Scanlan led Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, for decades, turning it into a strong center of Catholic thought and teaching. He also helped bring the Charismatic renewal to the campus through summer programs for adults and teens and annual conferences for priests and deacons.

"He had this gut intuition, supernatural in its origin," theologian and Franciscan professor Scott Hahn told the Catholic Register. 

"He fathered more than 12 tribes like Jacob—students, faculty, being accessible for spiritual direction and confession, and laying hands on anyone who desired it. ... He was a man of prayer, and this was a spillover," he added. 

"During his tenure as president from 1974-2000, his ideas, guided by the Holy Spirit, turned things around at the struggling College of Steubenville and led to its prominence...," Franciscan University of Steubenville's current president, Fr. Sean O. Sheridan, said.

"His personal witness, exuberant manner of life, and ability to communicate the Gospel in a joyful way made major contributions, not only to Franciscan University, but to the entire Catholic Church in the United States—indeed, to the World Church," George Weigel senior fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center said about Scanlan. 

He also referred to him as the "dynamo of evangelical energy who knew that the renewal of Catholic higher education was a critical component of the new evangelization."

In 2000, Scanlan was named chancellor for the Franciscan University of Steubenville and in 2011 he was named president-emeritus. 

Upon his retirement, Scanlan said, "The Lord has given me countless blessings through my years of service at Franciscan University," according to a university press release.

"It has been a remarkable privilege and deep joy to work with so many committed Christian faculty, staff, administrators and donors in the vitally important ministry of Catholic higher education."