Brief Notices
Bishops' registers are an important source. They do, however, vary in interest and may contain little more than standardized entries. It might be expected that an intriguing bishop such as Walter Langton might have an interesting register. It is not, after all, many bishops who are accused of doing homage to the devil and of strangling their mistress's husband. Further, Walter was Edward I's most important minister in the king's later years, and he was subjected to a major state trial under Edward II. Yet this volume of his register contains no hint of such matters. It consists of 177 printed pages of names of those ordained by Langton, with details of who presented them. An appendix demonstrates that Langton officiated regularly at ordinations, above all in December, even during the years when he was serving as treasurer. This volume also contains a valuable itinerary, which makes it very clear that after he had fallen out of royal favor he spent most of his time in his admittedly very large diocese, apart from attending parliament on a regular basis. Another appendix gives in extenso some of the documents that are calendared in the first volume. It is very good to have this part of the register in print, for the sake of completeness; it is, however, the case that it is the first volume that is likely to be consulted regularly, rather than this one. Michael Prestwich (University of Durham)
In light of the fact that the cause for the canonization of Fulton Sheen is currently underway, and that he has recently been proclaimed a "Servant of God," perhaps a short introduction to the man and his life fills a niche for those unfamiliar with him. He was generally recognized and eulogized as the greatest preacher and evangelist of the twentieth century in the United States, by journalists and historians alike, at the time of his death in 1979.
Father Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R., vice-postulator of the cause, writes in the foreword that Bishop Sheen was a "common household name" to one generation [End Page 739] of Catholics, but often known by today's younger generation only "by hearsay." The strength of Ms. Rodriguez's book can be found in its "readable and attractive style" which covers the main stages of Sheen's illustrious career—philosopher and professor, prolific writer, preacher of the electronic gospel and convert-maker, anti-communist crusader and missionary, and post-Vatican II Bishop of Rochester (New York)—while also focusing on Sheen's character and personal piety. His devotion to the Virgin Mary was well known, as was his practice of the Holy Hour, which inspired many other priests in their vocations. So, for the novice, this book serves a useful purpose, and should encourage those impressed by Sheen's story to explore further.
But, Rodriguez offers little that is new. As the footnotes and sketchy bibliography indicate, she relied heavily on collections of Sheen's words (of the "best" and "quotations" genre) and three more substantive biographies: Sheen's autobiography Treasure in Clay; America's Bishop by Thomas C. Reeves; and my own Fulton J. Sheen: An American Catholic Response to the Twentieth Century (a good proofreader/editor would have noticed that she left out the essential Catholic in the title). In the final analysis, Sheen's unparalleled life merits a deeper look, commensurate with his own description of a "life worth living" as one of both mystery and adventure. Kathleen L. Riley (Ohio Dominican University)
