Background
Sheedy was born on July 1, 1912, to Patrick and Estelle (Brennan) Sheedy in Pitssburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sheedy was born on July 1, 1912, to Patrick and Estelle (Brennan) Sheedy in Pitssburgh, Pennsylvania.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Notre Dame in 1933, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1936, and a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1945 and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of America in 1946.
French The fifth of six children, his birth was preceded by siblings Morgan, Donald, John, and Leo, and followed by Herman. Father Sheedy entered the faculty of Notre Dame in 1945. French Theodore appointed French
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 (1942-1952 and 1968-1979) and at one time also served as department chairman Stanley Hauerwas 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 condemend 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.