On Saturday, October 17, Franciscan University of Steubenville (FUS) honored Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR with a celebration recognizing “his outstanding contributions to Catholic higher education and the Church.” Saturday marks his 50th anniversary as a professed Franciscan. The event will include an afternoon conference, a Mass of Thanksgiving, and a gala reception and dinner.   Fr. Scanlan has served Franciscan University for the past 35 years, first as president and now as chancellor. As president, Fr. Scanlan transformed FUS into a world-renowned leader in Catholic higher education. Under his leadership, FUS theology professors became the first in America to pledge an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium, vocations on campus blossomed, and an overall rededication to Catholic identity took place. Fr. Terrence Henry, TOR said of Fr. Scanlan, his “legacy is the over 12,000 Franciscan alumni living in the world, passing on the faith by the witness of their words and lives.  These alumni are one of the reasons Pope John Paul II could speak about a new springtime of the faith in America.  They are renewing the Church and transforming the culture, just as St. Francis, the University’s namesake, did so many centuries ago.” Source: Franciscan University of Steubenville