Religion: Calvary in Rochester

Somehow, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen had never seemed an appropriate choice to head the diocese of Rochester, N.Y., with its 362,000 souls. Indeed, it was no secret in the church that the man once believed in line to succeed the late Francis Cardinal Spellman was restless and unhappy in his out-of-the-way post. As one friend expressed it: “After being on the heights of Mount Tabor all his life, the bishop found his Calvary in Rochester.” Even so, his resignation last week at age 74, after less than three years in his first important pastoral post, came as a surprise.

Before Pope Paul VI named him bishop of the modest diocese in late 1966, Fulton Sheen was best known for his conversions of famous people and for popularizing the Roman Catholic religion with his magnetic television personality. Eventually, he drew an audience of 30 million for his weekly program, called Life Is Worth Living, rivaling Comedian Milton Berle in Nielsen ratings.

In Rochester, Bishop Sheen seemed to have no trouble making the transition from an imaginative interpreter of Catholic dogma to a shepherd, and he turned into an enthusiastic innovator for his flock. He democratized the administration of his diocese: he permitted his 583 priests to elect his chief aide, the vicar-general; he set up a clerical advisory council of elected members, and invited the auditing of the diocese’s finances by a lay committee. One of his first moves was to appoint the Rev. P. David Finks, a youthful clergyman involved in civil rights causes, to serve as his “vicar for the urban ministry” in charge of slum problems.

Back to TV. But after the first few months, Bishop Sheen became the object of increasing criticism within his own diocese for not following through on his ideas and for failing to communicate with the ordinary parishioners. As a celebrity, he attracted large crowds wherever he went. He urged people to write to him personally about their problems, but when they wrote, they got form letters in reply. Many in his flock felt that he took too strong a position in support of Negro causes, notably a protest group’s demand for 600 jobs at Eastman Kodak Co. Parishioners were angered and protested vigorously when he donated church property to the Federal Government last year without consulting them. Finally discouraged, Bishop Sheen pleaded during a 40-minute audience with the Pope last May to be released from his Rochester post. His request was granted.

“I am resigning the diocese,” Bishop Sheen says. “I am not resigning work. I am not retiring. I am regenerating.” His appointment by Rome as titular Archbishop of Newport, on the tiny island of Wight off the English coast, is but a traditional gesture and will claim none of his time. Instead, he plans to return to New York to write, lecture and take up his interrupted career as the Catholic TV evangelist through a syndicated weekly program.