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Arch. Fulton Sheen Pushes Vatican II Reforms
Many conservative and traditional Catholics who champion the beatification of Arch. Fulton Sheen do not seem to realize what a radical turn to the left he took after Vatican II. He became an early hero of ecumenism, religious freedom and the liturgical changes. One year after being installed as Bishop of the Rochester Diocese in December 1966, the diocesan paper
The Catholic Courier Journal reported on his aims to make Rochester “a model diocese styled and moved by the spirit of Vatican II Council.” (December 15, 1967, p. 1)
In the front page article that you can read below, it stated that Sheen's “most startling change” was to transform the diocesan high school preparatory seminary St. Andrew’s into “an entirely new concept”: the coeducational King’s Preparatory. Instead of a all male high school forming young men to become priests, the new co-ed school would produce “Christian leaders” of both sexes who, as Bishop Sheen stated, would attract youth “who want to rise above dull conventionality.”
He also introduced an outreach program for seminarians changing the emphasis from learning dogma in strict enclosure to engaging in social outreach, following the spirit of Vatican II.
The Bishop also announced he would institute one of the first Priests’ Councils, a directive of Vatican II. The article reported that his Diocese was also among the first to raise the age of Confirmation from 10-11 to “later adolescence.”
The Catholic Courier News was under the direct supervision of Bishop Fulton Sheen, so it is a reliable source in reporting his views and activities.
You can read photocopies of the original of this article below, taken from the official online archives here.
In the front page article that you can read below, it stated that Sheen's “most startling change” was to transform the diocesan high school preparatory seminary St. Andrew’s into “an entirely new concept”: the coeducational King’s Preparatory. Instead of a all male high school forming young men to become priests, the new co-ed school would produce “Christian leaders” of both sexes who, as Bishop Sheen stated, would attract youth “who want to rise above dull conventionality.”
He also introduced an outreach program for seminarians changing the emphasis from learning dogma in strict enclosure to engaging in social outreach, following the spirit of Vatican II.
The Bishop also announced he would institute one of the first Priests’ Councils, a directive of Vatican II. The article reported that his Diocese was also among the first to raise the age of Confirmation from 10-11 to “later adolescence.”
The Catholic Courier News was under the direct supervision of Bishop Fulton Sheen, so it is a reliable source in reporting his views and activities.
You can read photocopies of the original of this article below, taken from the official online archives here.
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