Tea at Trianon: Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s FBI File

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s FBI File

From Catholic News Agency:

1. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who was outspoken about the evils of his time including Nazism and Communism, gave an address in 1943 which “strongly indicted the present German Government in such a way as to make many Nazi sympathizers in this country boil with rage.” The FBI got in touch with him afterwards, because they thought they might identify Nazi supporters by who reacted most negatively to his talk.

2. Monsignor Sheen gave a talk at a Communion breakfast, and for whatever reason, the FBI found it notable how impressed he was with the looks of his audience. “Msgn. Sheen stated that he has addressed thousands of Communion Breakfasts and that this was the finest looking group that he had ever spoken to at an affair of this nature. He also made this same remark to me personally, and it was apparent that he was deeply impressed with the clean-cut look and wholesome appearance of those in attendance.” – letter to the director of the FBI. (Read more.)