Kind and gentle, beloved by many and, like a good Franciscan, eager to spread the Gospel, Capuchin Friar Anthony Scannell was a pioneer in using mass communications to share the Good News.
Scannell died July 9 at St. Fidelis Friary in Appleton, Wisconsin, at the age of 97. Father Tony, as most knew him, reached the lives of millions who experienced his ministry through various forms of broadcast media, and in more intimate “Soup and Cinema” watch-and-discuss encounters.
Daughter of St. Paul Sister Rose Pacatte, founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles, knew Scannell for nearly 40 years and described him as a mentor to countless Catholic communicators.
“He remembered names and faces and always made you feel that you mattered,” said Pacatte. “His energy and pastoral caring were deeply Franciscan, a joyful identity that he shared generously with the world for decades.”
Brother Steven Kropp, provincial minister of the Franciscan Capuchin Province of St. Joseph, said that Scannell “had a passion for ministry that was rooted in the Franciscan ideal to preach the Gospel at all times, and not just in front of a crowd or a TV camera.”
“Nothing prevented him from the vocation he lived for 77 years,” said Kropp. “He brought the Gospel to anyone he ever met through the way he lived.”
‘God’s will’
Born Gerald Edward Scannell on Oct. 18, 1928, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, he studied at St. Lawrence College in Mount Calvary and St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, before entering the Capuchin novitiate in 1949 at St. Felix Friary in Huntington, Indiana, and receiving the religious name Anthony. “I believe that it is God's will,” he said on his application.
His decision was strongly affirmed by those who taught and studied with him. One seminary rector called him “a born leader who uses his gift to bring others closer to God,” while a fellow student wrote that he was “exceptionally gifted by God with all the signs of a true vocation.”
Ordained to the priesthood on Sept. 8, 1955, Father Scannell taught speaking and preaching for 14 years at St. Anthony Seminary in Marathon, Wisconsin, where his life’s work began to take shape. He produced 125 “Know the Truth” television programs on WSAU-TV in Wausau, and traveled the country giving preaching workshops for priests.
In 1970, Scannell was assigned to the Franciscan Communications Center in Los Angeles, serving first as director of production and then as president for 27 years. Under his leadership, the center’s TeleKetics films brought a new, human style of religious storytelling to Catholic media, a deliberate departure from the “talking preacher” television of the era.
During the 1970s and ’80s, Scannell served in various leadership roles of the Catholic broadcasters’ association, UNDA. In 1985 he was appointed to the Pontifical Commission for Social Communications, and in 2001 the apostolic nuncio named him ecclesiastical assistant to UNDA.
In 1992 he began gathering entertainment industry professionals for regular prayer, a group that grew into Catholics in Media Associates and its annual CIMA Awards, which he co-founded with director Jack Shea and screenwriter Patt Shea.
“Father Tony was the soul of CIMA,” recalled producer Barbara Gangi, who headed CIMA in the early 2000s. “He was a tremendous influence in guiding our spiritual path as we developed the goals of our organization and as it grew in viability and influence.”
In 1993, Scannell began serving as provincial minister, based in Detroit. He then returned to Los Angeles, serving from 1997 to 2003 as coordinator of pastoral telecommunications for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and from 2004 to 2006 as executive publisher of The Tidings, the precursor of Angelus.
‘A deep faith’
Based at St. Francis Friary in La Cañada, Scannell led an annual Lenten series entitled “Soup and Cinema” at Holy Family Church in South Pasadena, and St. Francis de Sales Church in Sherman Oaks. The weekly sessions featured a simple meal, the showing of a feature film, and a discussion of how the film connected to the Catholic faith.
By then, he had become friends with many parishioners at both locations, including Sally and Bob Neely, longtime parishioners at St. Francis de Sales and among the first to invite him to dinner at their home.
The Neelys often joined Scannell with his family in Arizona for Christmas where, on one occasion, the trio played golf with Bob’s high school friend, a fallen-away Catholic who made it clear that he was not about to be preached to.
“Well,” said Bob, “we came to a par-3 that was totally water from tee to green. Three of us hit our balls into the lake. Then Tony hits his and tops it, but the ball skips across the water and lands on the green. He made his par, and my friend says, ‘Okay, I get it.’ ”
‘Gospel light’
In 2007, The Christophers organization honored Scannell with their Spirit Award for a lifetime of leadership in Catholic communications. Based at St. Francis Friary in La Cañada Flintridge, he continued to assist at parishes and served as a chaplain for the Heart of the Nation televised Sunday Mass, extending his media ministry long after his formal retirement.
“Being a Capuchin has saved me from my ‘shadow side’ and freed me to serve as I am,” he remarked in 2015. “I always thought I would die young. It’s just taking longer than I expected.”
Scannell is survived by his brother Ed, many nieces and nephews, and a brotherhood of Capuchins with whom he lived, prayed, and ministered for nearly eight decades.
“Tony allowed the Gospel to shed light on every aspect of his life,” said Brother Kropp, the homilist at Scannell’s funeral Mass July 15 at St. Lawrence Seminary. “And through him, that brilliance was shone on us. May we all know that same glory.”
