'Salt of the Earth' updates diocesan history to 2007

Intermountain Catholic

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"Salt of the Earth: The History of the Catholic Church in Utah 1776-2007," Third Edition, by Bernice Maher Mooney and Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, The University of Utah Press, 391 pages, hardcover.

SALT LAKE CITY — If you pick up a copy of the third edition of "Salt of the Earth" you may not be able to put it down. From its forward by the Most Reverend Bishop John C. Wester of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, to the five appendixes in the back of the book, you will find first the moving pioneer story of Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, who began the diocese as Father Scanlan, and stories of the utterly courageous men and women whose dedication and devotion brought the diocese to where it is today.

More than a reference book, the third edition of "Salt of the Earth" compliments the first two editions and adds information that brings the history of the diocese up to its current bishop, Bishop Wester. It tells human stories about Bishop Scanlan, traveling on horseback the wide expanses of the western area that would become first the vicariate of Salt Lake City and included large parts of what is now Nevada. Eventually, he would call upon women religious from various orders, but especially the Holy Cross Sisters from South Bend Ind., who came and built schools (in addition to the schools Bishop Scanlan had already built), hospitals, and orphanages to care for the men and their families who worked the mines and the railroads.

Most moving, though, are the stories of parishes Bishop Scanlan and the few priests he had to help him seemed to pull out of the desert sand. Like roses, they would blossom and grow as Catholic lay people gave them the support they needed. Yes, there were those parishes that died out, victims of the ups and downs of the fortunes of mining and the work of the railroads as they snaked their way across the country, but like a living entity, the Diocese of Salt Lake City began to burgeon.

At the heart of the first half of the book are the efforts made by Bishop Scanlan and others to build the magnificent Cathedral of the Madeleine which will celebrate the centenary of its dedication in August, 2009. The book celebrates the cathedral and the work put into it by each of the nine bishops of the diocese.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is like a centerpiece of the first part of the book, which takes a close look at the work of each of our nine bishops: "During their episcopacies, successive bishops guided and cared for the mother church of their diocese," the book says on page 51. It then gives each of the bishops their due from Bishop Scanlan to Bishop Joseph S. Glass, Bishop John J. Mitty, Bishop James E Kearney, Bishop Leo J. Steck, Bishop Duane G. Hunt, Bishop Joseph L. Federal, Bishop William K. Weigand, Bishop George Niederauer, and now, Bishop John C. Wester.

In addition to their contributions to the Cathedral of the Madeleine, each bishop is taken in turn and his story told. Among those stories is information about how this diocese was assisted in its beginnings by the church in New York City, and later by the Catholic Church Extension Society and the Office of the Home Missions, the Diocesan Development Drive (DDD), and the Catholic Foundation of Utah.

Throughout are the names of men and women who dug in, building churches, schools, and hospitals. Some bore their names, like Judge Mercy Hospital, now Judge Memorial Catholic High School and the Kearns St. Ann Orphanage, now Kearns St. Ann Elementary School.

Still others labored beside the priests and sisters, not for name’s sake, but to provide churches, hospitals, schools, and social service organizations for the assistance of their children and others.

Each parish and school is given its due as the book marks the work of each bishop. While Bishop Scanlan seemed to pull them up out of the ground, later bishops had the support of Catholic families. With the generosity of the ALSAM Foundation, for example, the magnificent Skaggs Catholic Center was built in 1999 on what used to be an onion field in the city of Draper in the south end of the Salt Lake Valley.

You will read how most of our early bishops, right up to Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal, often made lengthy trips to wealthier dioceses in the east to generate funds for this mission diocese. In fact, the diocese’s first auxiliary bishop, Leo J. Steck, died on one of these fund raising trips.

Of Bishop Duane G. Hunt’s accomplishments one of note was the establishment of Catholic Charities, the predecessor to today’s Catholic Community Services (CCS), established to lift up the poor and disenfranchised. Today, in addition to it’s help for the poor, CCS runs a nationally recognized refugee resettlement program.

Bishop Hunt was also responsible for bringing a number of men and women religious to the diocese.

Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal was named the first Coadjutor bishop of the diocese, with rite of succession upon the death of Bishop Hunt.

Bishop Federal was followed by Bishop William K. Weigand, who exhibited a real devotion to the poor.

"Dedications of facilities throughout the diocese mark the years of Bishop (George H.) Niederauer," the book points out.

Today, Bishop John C. Wester stands on the shoulders of men and women who made the Diocese of Salt Lake City grow and expand. His outreach on the national level to immigrants and refugees reflects well on the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

The recent history of this diocese cannot be related well without considering the gifts of Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, one of the writers of this third edition. He has served as vicar general under two bishops and led the diocese through two interregnum periods between bishops.

"Salt of the Earth" gives the reader the opportunity to get to know each of the diocese’s bishops and the priests, sisters, and lay people who built and continue to build the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

"Salt of the Earth" is not a book to sit reverently on a bookshelf or coffee table. It’s one to be read word-for-word, and don’t be afraid to make notes in the margins. It’s invaluable as a research book and thoroughly enjoyable as a good read. It is a mirror for the diocese, showing its good moments and its bad. It fearlessly addresses the clergy abuse scandal, for example, and emphasizes how healing should begin.

"Salt of the Earth" will be available in Catholic bookstores this November.