Fulton Sheen, Vatican II & The Revolution He Never Lived To See

With Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification taking place this week, Catholics are asking about the legacy of one of the most famous bishops of the 20th century.

So what do we think?

Sheen died in 1979.

• He never saw Assisi.
• He never saw Pachamama.
• He never saw Fiducia Supplicans.

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He never saw the destruction of the Catholic sanctuary or the increasingly disturbing treatment of the Blessed Sacrament that Michael examines in this episode. But Michael also refuses to turn Sheen into either a Traditionalist mascot or a Modernist villain. Michael’s own father, Walter Matt, knew Sheen personally. The Remnant's files contain letters from Sheen during the years when the two men were at odds over Vatican II. And the reason for that disagreement? The Revolution. To help put Archbishop Sheen in his proper historical context, Michael also revisits the remarkable Catholic debates of an earlier era, including William F. Buckley Jr.'s interviews with Michael Davies and Archbishop Lefebvre—when Catholics could still debate the crisis in the Church openly, seriously, and without today's constant name-calling. But this just goes to show: The Revolution was hotly debated and the confusion good men felt over the turn of events was palpable. Watch the new Remnant Underground and hear Michael Matt's take on Fulton Sheen, Vatican II, the New Mass, and the revolution that Sheen never lived to see:

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