Blast from the past. A wildly enthusiastic Bishop Fulton Sheen loved Vatican Two

ABS notes that he is a YUGE admirer of this great Bishop and this is not posted to mock him in any way.  ABS has read and loved several of his books, and especially fantastic is his "Life of Christ," perhaps the best example ever of that genre.

No, this is posted as a warning to all - even great Bishops - who think the Holy Ghost is leading them to reject virtually everything in the past rather than it being the case that they have allowed themselves to be caught up in an effervescent moment in time and are being deceived by the world.

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Interview With Bishop Fulton Sheen on Council’s “Communionistic Revolution”

by Administrator1

“Pope John did what the Risen Lord did. The Church has been behind closed doors for centuries. He said: ‘Open the doors! There is a world waiting for salvation. Go into it!’ The Lord is again appearing behind the closed doors of the council as we debate and discuss, and there is no stepping back as we hear Him say, in the words of the Apocalypse: ‘I have set before you an open door, and let no man close it.’”

(Prior to V2 Missionaries were non existent and The Church was generating no conversions? This old church bad, new church good subtext was so destructive of Tradition)

In these words Auxiliary Bishop Fulton J. Sheen of New York, who is director in the United States of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, summed up his impressions at the end of the third council session.

Bishop Sheen’s recent speech in the council debate on the missions met with a wide echo. He expanded on his ideas in an interview given to this correspondent.

What will come of the council? he was asked.

“This council,” he replied, “is the battleground of what might be called a communionistic revolution. There is a war not against truth, which is revealed and held in common, but against entrenched modes of thinking, patterns of administration, nationalistic hoardings and antiquated mental heirlooms. Those who are fashioned in these molds often are no more willing to give them up than the rich landowners of Latin America.

“But from all over the world came the communionists with a new revolution, asking that the Church adapt itself to the world, enlarge its offices to embrace all nations and acknowledge that there are other civilizations besides the Western.

(The Body of Christ must adapt itself to one of its ancient and permanent enemy, the world  - just like Christ did)

“This revolution took place in the council between a minority group with entrenched ideological capital and a new majority group made up of many nationalistics.

“We must understand that there can be not only a capitalism of money, but also of ideas. The communionistic revolution now is dividing the intellectual wealth and distributing it to the Church all over the world.”

He was asked: Will not such an ideological division cause unrest in the Church?

“I don’t think so,” said Bishop Sheen. “The council needs both tendencies, and so does the Church. The minority group softened the ideas of the majority group in the council, and this will give the latter balance, make their definitions more precise, prevent them from throwing out the baby with the bath.

“On the other hand, the majority group gave a breath of fresh air to the stuffy air of the past centuries, enlarged the horizons of those who lived close to the Mediterranean and made them conscious that the men and women outside the Church are not enemies but friends.

“The two groups — the minority and the majority — are like a weight on a flywheel. Without the weight the flywheel would fly off the axle; with the weight the flywheel goes faster. The two mentalities are necessary like the subject and predicate of a sentence.”

“But,” this correspondent said, “the result might be a mere compromise.”

“On the surface,” replied Bishop Sheen, “it may seem as if there is compromise between the two, but there is not. There actually is a synthesis. Take infallibility as defined by the First Vatican Council. That was only one side of the Church and the Scriptures. It needed to be combined with the doctrine of the collegiality of bishops, for Peter, the supreme pontiff, was chosen from among the twelve.

“As I see it, the equilibrium which is coming out of this council, as it builds up its doctrine and practice, is something wonderful to behold.”

Which issue stands out among those that came up during the third council session, Bishop Sheen was asked.

“I think,” he said, “the one note that rang out in the council was that the Church is to be the Church of the poor. The magnificent gesture of the Holy Father in surrendering his triple tiara symbolized it. The council actually has discovered another presence of Christ. Besides the Eucharistic presence in the tabernacle there is also the presence of Christ in the poor.

(It was not his personal possession to hand over to the UN but it did signify that he refused to be crowned by his friends as the head of all nations and kings and politicians whereas Jesus allowed Himself to be crowned by His enemies because He is King of all.)

“This affects also the priesthood. Priests will no longer be like gasoline station attendants caring only for the regular clients who come in weekly for refueling.

“They will also be explorers digging for the Holy Spirit in the souls of their fellowmen. It likewise affects religious congregations inasmuch as it will cure them from organizational sclerosis, as they begin to have dialogue with one another and serve with bishops for the glory of the entire Church.

(The V2 rocket blowed-up religious congregations)

“In this light one of the principal fruits of the council is the practical realization that we are all living cells in the Mystical Body of Christ.

“The bishops from comfortable dioceses have become uncomfortable at the sight of their impoverished brethren from Latin America, Africa and Asia. The unstudious bishops have become conscious that they have missed much of their episcopal vocation in counting and administration. On the other hand, the experts in the council have realized how far removed they sometimes were from the dust of human lives.

(Hmmm, precursor to the smelly sheep?)

“It really is like a new Pentecost. Each was going his own way. Now they have, as the Acts of the Apostles state, ‘one mind and one heart.’”

(Mmmmm the enthusiasm reigning at Vatican Two, attributable to The Holy Ghost or attributable to an emotional state "effervescence" - that condition described by Emile Durkheim as "Collective effervescence, ...the state in which men find themselves when...they believe they have been swept up into a world entirely different from the one they have before their eyes."

See p. 24, "Vatican II, a sociological analysis of religious change," Melissa J. Wilde

O, and there is only one Pentecost)

A last question came from this correspondent as to whether this impact of the new Pentecost will last beyond the council, once it has adjourned?

“Of this,” Bishop Sheen replied, “I have no doubt whatsoever. The impulse is so strong it is bound to remain effective. The various local conferences of bishops will grow in stature. (The local conference of Bishops active at the council were the liberal ones from South America and they seized control of the council and met every day at Saint Marta to strategize. 

Say, isn't that where Pope Francis chose to Live? Why yes it is, what a curious coincidence .)There will be independent initiatives which all will fit into the general pattern of that inner renewal of the Church Pope John has initiated, and Pope Paul now is promoting with the best of intentions.

“The doors have been opened wide, much too wide to be closed again.”

(Oh, no; that's not pretty good as the Granddaughter of ABS, Sweet Pea, loves to say).

Father Placid Jordan, O.S.B.
NCWC News Rome Correspondent