Having been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New York on 28th May 1951, Bishop Fulton Sheen was present at all four sessions of the Vatican II Council from 1962 to 1965. Of all his famous speeches in his lifetime, very little attention has been given on the address he gave on the floor of St Peter's Basilica before his brother bishops and other Council Fathers from across the world during the Vatican II Council.
Bishop Fulton Sheen spoke for the first time during the Council in its third session, at the 118th General Congregation on 9th November 1964. He addressed the theme of Mission, which is unsurprising since, while serving as Auxiliary Bishop of New York, he was also in charge of the Missions for the US Bishops.
The topic of Missions was a hotly debated issue, one of particular interest to African prelates, as well as those from Asia and other missionary regions. Africa, at that time, was still undergoing the first phase of evangelisation in many parts. In fact, it is no coincidence that the first and only African cardinal at the time, Cardinal Rugambwa, was technically second in command on the commission that drafted the document for discussion. To crown it all, only once in the history of the Council (and maybe I should say Councils because on this we go as far back as Trent) did the Pope himself, as a Council member, intervene and contribute to the floor discussions and that was during the debate on the schema for the Missions on 6th November 1964. (Pope Paul VI).
Several days later, as the debate on the Missions continued, a popular bishop, whose TV shows had attracted over 30 million viewers at the time and was later to receive a Grammy Award, rose to speak. He had remained quiet throughout the preceding sessions. This bishop was Fulton Sheen. He attracted the world's attention not merely because of his media presence, unlike today’s televangelists or social media preachers, but because he sought to communicate the Church's profound and refined theology (the truth) using philosophy as his tool.
The local diaries recount the day as follows:
“Bishop Sheen used the microphone in the council section where he had his seat. His voice was perfectly modulated, rising and falling in accordance with the exigencies of his text. He followed his custom of accompanying his statements with dramatic gestures. He spoke slowly, using elegant Latin which was perfectly understandable even to those who sometimes experience difficulty following American speakers when they use the council's official language. The council Fathers had delayed their usual coffee breaks so as not to miss this famous speaker. When he concluded, the members of his audience-one of a kind he had never before faced-expressed their appreciation by spontaneous applause.
It was the first time Bishop Sheen had spoken during the three council sessions. Although he spoke overtime, the moderator did not cut him off. Bishop Sheen was the last speaker scheduled to talk about the missions. Immediately after his address, it was decided by an overwhelming vote to send the curtailed missions schema back to committee for a complete rewriting in the light of the critical observations that had been made on the council floor. Later…as the bishops filed out of the meeting at noon, Bishop Sheen's talk was the main topic of their conversation. Said one prominent mission bishop: 'This was one of the council's greatest days, thanks to Fulton Sheen.'” (Cf. Council DayBook, Vol. 3, Third Session.”
The following is the English translation of the Latin Speech of Bishop Fulton Sheen:
"Paul VI, reigning as a missionary pontiff, has suggested to the council that our schema be polished and developed. Let us do this, while granting every member of the commission the right to choose his own 'expert.'
In place of the theological question 'What are missions?' I would suggest that we turn to the practical question: 'Where are the missions?' Are the missions exclusively in those territories where there are non-Christians, or are the missions also in regions where there are few priests, few churches, and great poverty? The simple answer to this question is: the missions are both.
I am a servant of the missions under the Propaganda. But during three sessions of this council, many bishops living in great poverty have come to my seat in the council hall. They come from territories not under the Propaganda, but from areas where there are only seven to ten priests for 50,000 square miles. I ask: Is it Christian? Is it Catholic? Is it worthy of the charity of Christ to say to them: 'You do not belong to mission territory?' Is it not true that the doctrine of the collegiality of bishops imposes on us a missionary responsibility not only for territories defined as missionary 300 years ago, but also for 'the salvation of the whole world'? (Number 4 of the Schema).
Why does Paul VI, reigning as pastor, in his encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam, so rarely use the word 'mission'? What other word does he use instead? Dialogue. And he uses that word 77 times. To him, dialogue is the showing of the love and charity of Christ to all men. We bishops in this council must not enter into a dispute about what is a missionary territory and what is not, or who belongs to this congregation or to that congregation, saying: 'I am one of Paul’s men,' 'I am one of Apollo’s,' or 'I am one of Cephas'; while someone else says: 'I owe my faith to Christ alone.' What are you saying? Is there more than one Christ? (1 Cor. 1:12). Let us not be like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan, who passed by the wounded man, saying: 'He does not belong to our congregation.'
In the Body of Christ, there are no 'new churches' or 'old churches,' for we are all living cells in that Body, dependent on one another. It is souls, not territories, that make the missions. The missions must not be the one aspect of the life of the Church that admits no 'aggiornamento.' What God has joined together — the Church and the missions — let no schema separate. The true Catholic solution to this problem of the diversity of missions is to be found in Number Four of the schema, which proposes a 'Central Council for Spreading the Gospel.' This council transcends all juridical distinctions about congregations and gives flexibility to missionary effort, according to diverse circumstances.
Let no one fear that he will receive less aid if some help is given to a needy brother. In the early Church, as soon as there was 'one heart and one soul,' they began to 'consider all property in common' (Acts 4:32). Furthermore, if we share, then as we read in the Epistle to the Corinthians: 'He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack' (2 Cor. 8:15).
In conclusion, if we have an ecumenical spirit towards brothers outside the Church, then let us have an ecumenical spirit towards brothers inside the Church. Let us be charitable about the missions, remembering that the Lord who said, 'Go teach all nations' (Cong. of the Propaganda), is the same Lord who bewailed: 'I have mercy on the multitudes' (Latin America)."
Fr. Casmir is a priest of the Diocese of Nakuru and a Doctoral Candidate in Church History at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, (PUSC), Roma. casmirthomas28@gmail.com
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