Lawrence Joseph Shehan (March 18, 1898 – August 26, 1984) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1961 to 1974.

Shehan's reputation was tarnished by revelations in 2019 and 2023 that he mishandled sexual abuse allegations against clergy in both Bridgeport and Baltimore.

[1][5] In 1920, the Archdiocese of Baltimore sent Shehan to Rome to continue his studies at the Pontifical Urban University, where he received a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in 1923.

[4][5] On December 23, 1922, Shehan was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Archbishop Giuseppe Palica at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

He ended racial segregation at the St. Patrick's school in 1942 and regularly hosted meetings of the Washington branch of the Catholic Interracial Council.

[6] He received his episcopal consecration on December 12, 1945, at Saint Patrick's Church in Washington from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops Peter Leo Ireton and John Michael McNamara serving as co-consecrators.

[8] He also formed a diocesan chapter of the Catholic Youth Organization, promoted vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and began parish ministry for the increasing number of Hispanic, Portuguese, and Brazilian immigrants.

[15] During the fourth session of the Council in 1965, Shehan assisted Cardinal Leo Joseph Suenens in writing a closing message to artists on December 8, 1965.

[14] In March 1965, Reverend Gommar DePauw, dean of Saint Mary's Major Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, founded the Catholic Traditionalist Movement (CTM).

[18][19] In 1968, Shehan and Harry Lee Doll, the episcopal bishop of Maryland, founded the Ecumenical Institute at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore to further positive relationships between different religions.

[20][21] Considered a liberal in many of his positions, Shehan supported the theologian Reverend Charles Curran after he was fired in April 1967 from the faculty of Catholic University of America.

"[9] While in Australia in 1973, he celebrated a mass for Aboriginal Australians at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne during the 1973 Eucharistic Congress, drawing 20,000 attendees.

[25] On October 1, 2019, former Connecticut state Judge Robert Holzberg issued a report on the handling of sexual abuse allegations against clergy by the Diocese of Bridgeport.