Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C. (July 1, 1912 – April 17, 1990) was an American priest and theologian of the

Congregation of Holy Cross , image = Congregation of Holy Cross.svg , image_size = 150px , abbreviation = CSC , formation = , founder = Blessed Fr. Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau, C.S.C. , founding_location = ...

and an administrator at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

Youth and training

Fr. Sheedy was born on July 1, 1912, to Patrick and Estelle (Brennan) Sheedy in Pittsburgh, PA. The fifth of six children, his birth was preceded by siblings Morgan, Donald, John, and Leo, and followed by Herman. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from Notre Dame in 1933, a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in 1936, and a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Licentiatus; abbreviated STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theol ...

in 1945 and a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, ...

from the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

in 1946.

Professor and Administrator at Notre Dame

Father Sheedy entered the faculty of Notre Dame in 1945. Fr.

Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Not ...

, C.S.C. appointed Fr. Sheedy dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters in 1951, a post he held until 1969. He was a professor in the Department of Theology (1942–52 and 1968–79) and at one time also served as department chair.

Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Martin Hauerwas (born July 24, 1940) is an American theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual. Hauerwas was a longtime professor at Duke University, serving as the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School ...

reported that another priest described Father Sheedy's administration as "that bit of humanity thrown into the wheels of bureaucracy to bring them to a stop." As a Christian ethicist, Father Sheedy condemned the use of nuclear weapons, even in the case of defense, in 1957. An advocate for the abolition of the death penalty, Father Sheedy delivered testimony before the Massachusetts legislature to that end in 1964.

Honors

In 1991, Father Hesburgh commissioned

Jerry McKenna Jerry McKenna is an American sculptor, notable for his bronze sculptures of military leaders, religious figures and sports stars. Early life and education McKenna was born on December 28, 1937, in Connellsville, PA. He has lived in Texas for o ...

to create a sculpture of Father Sheedy that now stands in the Great Hall of O'Shaughnessy Hall on campus. Since 1970, Notre Dame's College of Arts and Letters annually honors an outstanding faculty member who excels in research and instruction with the ''Sheedy Excellence in Teaching Award.''

Selected works

* ''For God and Country'' jointly authored with Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. Washington, D.C.: United Service Organizations * ''The Christian Virtues: A Book on Moral Theology for College Students and Lay Readers'' Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1949 * ''Eucharistic Controversy of the Eleventh Century Against the Background of Pre-Scholastic Theology'' Abrahams Magazine Service Press Inc., 1947

References

External links

Fr. Sheedy: A Priest for All People
by Fr. Nicholas Ayo, C.S.C.
Loyal Sons and Daughters: A Notre Dame Memoir
by Jean Lenz, pages 53–54.
Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir
by

, pages 96–97. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheedy, Charles E. 1912 births 1990 deaths University of Notre Dame faculty Congregation of Holy Cross Writers from Indiana 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests