Joseph Sarsfield Glass
Joseph Sarsfield Glass, C.M. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake in Utah from 1915 until his death in 1926. He was a member of the Congregation of the Mission
Biography
Early life
Glass was born in on March 13, 1874, in Bushnell, Illinois, to James and Mary Edith Glass. After receiving his early education in Sedalia, Missouri, he entered St. Vincent's College at Los Angeles, California, in 1887. He returned to Missouri in 1891, enrolling at St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville. From there he joined the Vincentians.Priesthood
Glass was ordained to the priesthood for the Vincentians in Los Angeles, California, by Bishop George Montgomery on August 15, 1897. The Vincentians then sent Glass to Rome to study at the College of the Propaganda in Rome, where he earned his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1899.Upon his return to the United States, Glass was assigned to teach dogmatic theology at St. Mary's Seminary. In 1900, he was appointed as professor of moral theology and director of the seminarians. In June 1901 he was named president of St. Vincent's College and pastor of St. Vincent's Parish, both in Los Angeles.St. Vincent College is today Loyola Marymount University. During his presidency, Glass broadened the curriculum to a full university course and made it one of the most prominent educational institutions in Southern California.
Bishop of Salt Lake
On June 1, 1915, Glass was appointed the second bishop of Salt Lake by Pope Benedict XV. He received his episcopal consecration at Saint Vincent's Church in Los Angeles on August 24, 1915, from Archbishop Edward Hanna, with Bishops Thomas Lillis and Thomas Grace serving as co-consecrators.As bishop, Glass added murals to the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake that display distinctly Catholic beliefs; some claimed that he wanted to confront members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but others said he simply "wanted to teach Utah Catholics basic tenets of their faith." Glass once played a poker game with LDS President Heber J. Grant and Elmer Goshen of the First Congregational Church in Salt Lake.