Laurence Sheil

Laurence Sheil was born in Wexford, Ireland, on 24 December 1815, before crossing the world to become the third Bishop of Adelaide. He expanded the diocese and helped found the Sisters of St. Joseph, yet his absence and harsh judgement drove Mary MacKillop into exile. On his deathbed in 1872, he rescinded the ban that had marked her, leaving behind a church widened but a man diminished by his own distance.