Bulletin of Ecumenical Theology, vol. 16 (2004): 31-53 THE SHANAHAN LEGACY: THE MYTH AND THE REALITY By By Nicholas Omenka [ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UTURU] The missionary legacy of Bishop Joseph Shanahan has become the focus of intense literary activity in recent times. The centenary celebration in 2002 of his arrival at Onitsha in 1902 was the occasion for academic conferences and workshops throughout the old Onitsha ecclesiastical province. About the same time the Evangelisation strategy of Shanahan was chosen as theme of a conference organized in Paris as part of the celebrations marking the 300-year existence of the Spiritan congregation. The leading essay of that conference entitled “Bishop Joseph Shanahan and the Evangelisation of Nigeria” by Patrick Roe is published in this volume. Undoubtedly, Shanahan numbers among the greatest missionary leaders of the twentieth century. He was viewed by even his contemporaries as a saint and it is appropriate that the process of his beatification is currently underway. To gain a broader understanding of Shanahan’s missionary legacy, it has become expedient to address some misconceptions surrounding his missionary strategy and his missionary career in general. Viewed against this background, Patrick Roe’s interesting article is a welcome development in the mission historiography of South Eastern Nigeria which we intend to expatiate upon in the pages that follow. The secret to Shanahan’s extraordinary missionary success lies definitely in his use of education as a medium of proselytisation. Perhaps, no other mission leader in Africa championed the cause of education the way he did. Nonetheless, it must be said that it was Father Léon Lejeune who first