The location was a minor basilica, the titular church of Cardinal Spellman in Rome, the Basilica of Sts. John and Paul on the Caelian Hill. The same church had been the titular church of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, created cardinal in 1929 and elected to the throne of St. Peter in 1939. Many years later in 1985 the same basilica later became the titular church of John Cardinal O'Connor of New York. Indeed, from 1946-2015 it was the titular church of the Archbishops of New York.
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| Entrance procession |
After World War II when Cardinal Spellman was elevated to the rank of cardinal, he was given the title of "cardinal priest" of Santi Giovanni e Paolo. It was in those years that he financed a restoration of the exterior facade of the basilica (as well as ancient Roman excavations below the structure). Rome lore says it was financed with help from Joseph P. Kennedy and that Spellman donated the 35 crystal chandeliers that came from a renovation of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
It was through the good graces of Cardinal Spellman that Sheen was advanced to the episcopal dignity. This location was quite possibly chosen to underline the unspoken point that it was through Spellman's endorsement this came to be.
The consecrator was Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza (secretary of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation). The co-consecrator was Bishop Leone Giovanni Battista Nigris (secretary for the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith) and the other was Bishop Martin J. O'Connor (rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome).
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| Bishop Martin J. O'Connor, Rector of the PNAC |
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| Photo taken after the ordination in front of the General House of the Passionists |
The servers and choir were seminarians from the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Present were many dignitaries, including the Father General of the Passionist order. In the front row as an old friend of Sheen's from the Vatican, Count Enrico Pietro Galeazzi, a nobleman who worked in the Vatican and had the title of Architect of the Sacred Apostolic Palaces.
Also present were many Americans in Rome at that time, including members of the U.S. military, and others from the Urbanianum (missionary college) in Rome. Lastly, Cardinal Pietro Fumasoni Biondi was present, the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
The altar used is no longer in the church today. It was a portable altar set up in front of the main altar.
Co-consecrating bishops wear crimson copes made of lamé silk, a fabric composed of silk fibers woven or blended with metallic threads, giving a shimmering effect. They date from the 1700s. The coat-of-arms on one of the copes is of Card. Camillo Paolucci (Merlini), a former titular cardinal of the basilica.
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| The portable altar used for the rite of ordination |
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| Image from the choir loft |
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| Arms of the Consecrating Bishop, Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza |
In 1950 Sheen became the National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The announcement of his elevation was made official on May 28, 1951 while he was in Munich, Germany visiting American troops stationed there and giving talks during the Korean War. The news the Holy Father had appointed him auxiliary bishop of New York was not a surprise to all. He was 56-years old.
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"I certainly do not deserve being a successor to the Apostles and receiving the fullness of the priesthood," he cabled. "There is no doubt that if I continued even another 23 years as a professor of philosophy the Bishopric never would have come. It must, therefore, be that the Holy Father and Cardinal Spellman willed rather to honor, not me as a person, but the World Mission Aid Society for the Propagation of the Faith, of which I happen to be the National Director."
He continued, "As the church bell is rung not in honor of the belfry, but to call souls to worship, so I have been named not to glorify myself, but to remind all peoples of the importance of the missions when the world is engaged in evangelizing for Christ or propagandizing for Satan. In days of peace and prosperity, the Bishopric is a privilege and an honor. In this hour of crisis and war, it is a summons to sacrifice, to work, and to reparation."
In conclusion, he wrote: "May I, therefore, beg my friends who have prayed for me in the past to renew their oblations, that this frail vessel, in which the flower of the Bishopric has been laid, will humble himself, that the missions may be exalted and that the Holy Father and Cardinal Spellman may see their high hopes of missionary expansion justified in me, who has the honor to be the servant of the missionaries of the world."
Sheen mentioned the event of his episcopal ordination in his autobiography:
"Shortly after being named National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, I was ordained bishop in the Church of St. John and Paul in Rome on the eleventh of June 1951. I afterward learned that this was done through the good graces of Cardinal Spellman" (Treasure in Clay, p. 92).
The photos of the Mass were taken by G. Felici, official Vatican photographer (sadly closed in 2015 after five generations, in those days located at Via del Babuino, 75, Roma).
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Bishop Sheen was deeply devoted to Our Lady. He chose as his episcopal motto DA PER MATREM ME VENIRE ("Grant that I may come to Thee through Mary" -- Grant that I may come [to You], through the Mother [Mary]"), a line from the Stabat Mater, one of the greatest Latin hymns of all times. The hymn is based on the prophecy of Simeon that a sword would pierce the heart of Mary. In 1727 it was prescribed as a Sequence for the Mass of the VII Sorrows of Mary (Sept. 15th). For this memorial the hymn is also used in the Breviary.
As he received the plentitude of the priesthood, he was constituted a Bishop of the Titular Church of Caesarina (North Africa), together with all its rank and dignity. Later, on accepting Bishop Sheen's retirement in 1969, Pope Paul honored him by naming him archbishop and giving him an honorary see with the title of Titular Archbishop of Newport (in Wales).
Many important people attended the rite of consecration. Afterwards the newly minted Bishop met with the Holy Father who asked him to stay for a week's vacation -- it is said Sheen thanked him but hurried back to work in New York. It should be noted Sheen never made a visit to Europe without making a stop in Lourdes, France.
Pilgrims gather at this site in Rome to commemorate the event and to pray for the intercession of Bishop Sheen.
In his autobiography, Treasure in Clay, written just before his death in 1979, Sheen included a chapter entitled "Desiring the Episcopacy" (Chapter Eight). In it, he reveals his own approach to the dignity of the episcopal rank:
"How many priests wis to become bishops? There is no way of knowing, for only God knows what goes on inside of the human heart. St. Paul wrote: 'It is an honorable ambition to aspire to be a bishop.' Perhaps this was because, in the early days, many of the bishops became martyrs. It was a much more uncomfortable post of leadership than it is today. I must confess I started praying when I was a young priest to become a bishop. What was clearly the motive was the desire to be a successor of the Apostles. I do not remember exactly when, but I believe it was during my first or second year graduate work at the University of Louvain. I remember the form the petition took. On the way to class, I passed the Church of St. Michael, on the walls of which were paintings of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Mother. A Hail Mary at each of the Seven Dolors was offered for that intention, and I have continued that prayer though I have been a bishop for many years" (Treasure in Clay, p. 91).
The basilica then as now is a popular wedding venue. It remains, since the year 1773, under the care of the Passionists when Pope Clement XIV granted them the entire complex with its exquisite gardens. Their founder, St. Paul of the Cross, moved here just in time to pass away here in 1775. He is buried in a side chapel on the right-hand side. The bell tower dates from about 1150.
Sheen attributed his sanctity to his practice of a continuous daily holy hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. The first half of the hour he would spend on his knees. He began this practice while a seminarian living on Summit Avenue at the St. Paul Seminary, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota (he was a student there from 1917-1919). In the beautiful chapel of the major seminary dedicated to St. Mary, on the upper banks of the mighty Mississippi River, he began this practice a year before he was ordained (1918).
Let us pray for his imminent canonization under the papacy of Pope Leo. Sheen came at a decisive time in history as a modern missionary in a desiccated world. He is the perfect saint of our times. For devout Catholics, this is a Marian age. He was a Marian priest. His greatest teaching was the value of the daily 'Holy Hour' for priests.
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| Photo courtesy of National Catholic Welfare Conference News Service |
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| The new bishop meets with the Pope |
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| The facade of Sts. John and Paul, restored by Cardinal Spellman |
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| The arms of Cardinal Spellman |
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| The beautiful Roman basilica where Sheen was ordained bishop |
