Last week, when the news first broke that the Vatican was delaying the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (but not naming a new date), the reason cited was the potential for surprises in the legal paperwork regarding the sexual abuse lawsuits. Although it was affirmed that nothing had shown up in the files and investigations that would have been problematical to the beatification, it appears that anything is possible in accusing a dead man who can’t defend himself. Cdl. Dolan weighed in (having spent a million dollars to unsuccessfully hold onto Abp. Sheen’s body in NYC), as the current metropolitan of the dioceses (NYC and Rochester, NY), in which the prelate Sheen had presided. And Cdl. Cupich similarly weighed in as the metropolitan for the diocese of Peoria, where Abp. Sheen was born, and which had prevailed against Cdl. Dolan for custody of the body, on behalf of the Sheen family. Thus, the date for beatification was cancelled, with allegations of sabotage by a Peoria Monsignor against the Diocese of Rochester, where Sheen had been bishop for 3 years after his incredible media success.
#1 Thus, the triumvirate of Bp. Matano, current bishop of Rochester, Cdls. Dolan and Cupich prevailed against the Dec 21, 2019 beatification, with the only reason offered related to what might be found in the “paperwork,” although the spectre of Cdl. Spellman of NY, who had been unsuccessful in pressuring Bp. Sheen for millions of dollars for free milk, is never far from his allegation of revenge from the grave.
My post last week wondered if the almost simultaneous ‘discovery’ of a TV lecture by Bp. Sheen against the practice of homosexuality might not have been the major issue for delay, resulting in shutting down the beatification. After all, how embarrassing would it be to canonize a saint who supports thousands of years of Church Teaching on purity, while simultaneously the Church Hierarchy in various high positions downplays the seriousness of same-sex sin. And how awkward would it be to see Archbishops like Charles Chaput faithfully averring the validity of Church Teaching against sodomy and related sins, while a “Fr” James Martin walks the halls as a favored guest at the Vatican, touting his same-sex agenda, and posing for photo ops with the Pope as freely as Satan wandered into heaven with Job as his target. And to add further to the offense of defending forbidden sin, it seems quite clear that the issue is not so much whether there is an accusation in the paperwork, which should be able to be reasonably defended, as much as it is now obvious that the abuse of children and teenagers sexually by priests and others in authority is not at all a matter of clericalism but is statistically clearly related to homosexuality among the clergy.
#2 The dilemma, then, simply put, is how can the Church praise by beatification and canonization a very well-know and visible prelate as a saint, whose condemnation of homosexual activity flies directly in the face of many practitioners within the hierarchy today?
In the intervening week, with further reading and consideration, but dropping neither of the points above, there is a third reason implied why the beatification may not only be postponed, but which adds to the danger that it might never happen. While it is not fashionable today to see Communists behind every rock, and words like “socialism” may seem more real and threatening than a defunct USSR, nevertheless let us remember that Bishop Sheen’s lectures often point to the undermining of the Church in general, and of the priesthood in particular by Communist infiltration of the seminaries. Among those clerics who are most bold against traditional Church Teaching, there is a realization that only destruction of the Faith will allow Communism and Socialism to prevail. Liberation Theology, condemned by Pope Benedict XVI, has done its share to weaken teaching the faith, and substituted do-good activities for in-depth catechesis, and left damaged souls in its wake. The last conclave was acknowledged by recently deceased Cdl. Danneels, to have been manipulated in ways forbidden in choosing a Pope, which paved the way for more damage. Communists in seminaries is a strategy to gain power, but what then is the strategy after gaining such power? In my opinion, it is the implementation of “One World Religion” based around environmentalism, minimization or even elimination of a moral code of behavior, sliding down the slippery slope of institutionalized sin, whether abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, same-sex colonization, or legalized gender confusion. It is not just a matter of opening uncatechized parishioners to elimination of morality, but many forces outside the Church, wealthy and committed like a George Soros or the Clinton Foundation, will have a direct agenda in formation of One World Religion, And for that, Abp. Sheen is hardly a role model! Can you imagine what the good bishop would say about pachamama? Can he really be canonized in this environment or is his voice, so well documented in media and books, now to be cut off by the delay, lest he become a rallying point for rebirth?
#3 In this post, a third possibility is introduced; i.e. that Bp. Sheen’s strong stance against Communism (and by connection to Socialism) makes him an uncomfortable voice in a world which is renouncing morality and added its own wooden gods on the chessboard of idolatry. There may be no room for Abp. Sheen in a world bent on killing morality and forming an abomination as religion.
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Bishop Sheen may end up like John the Baptist because of his stance on socialism : in the case of John, they cut his head off and in the case of Bishop Sheen, they are trying to silence him by questioning his beatification.