Saturday, September 6, 2014

A Dispute between Archbishop Sheen and Francis Cardinal Spellman

Repost from September 13, 2011:

A Dispute between Archbishop Sheen and Francis Cardinal Spellman

From Vidimus Dominum:

(By: Paul I Murphy, La Popessa)

In 1957 Francis Cardinal Spellman, the powerful Archbishop of New York, insisted that Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith owed the Archdiocese of New York one million dollars for supplies that the Society had distributed to impoverished people around the world. This dispute eventually made its way into the Pope’s office, and was settled when Pope Pius XII learned via a phone call to President Eisenhower that the surplus aid had been donated by the U.S. government to the Church free of charge. Not wishing to humble a longtime friend before another prelate of a lesser rank, the Pope reminded the two bishops that forgiveness was Divine and they should go in peace. He then gave them his blessing.

Once outside the Pope’s office an enraged Cardinal Spellman turned to Archbishop Sheen and shouted angrily, “I will get even with you!” Unmoved, the Archbishop replied while looking squarely at the Cardinal with his penetrating dark eyes, “Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius!”

Unfortunately for Archbishop Sheen, Cardinal Spellman made good his threat. His much watched television series was not renewed despite its increasing popularity, and the Archbishop was transferred to a small diocese in Upstate New York, which Cardinal Spellman and other prelates referred to as an “ecclesiastical Siberia.”

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Posted by Vincenzo at 7:32 PM
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