Bishop Fulton Sheen presents a sobering critique of the moral and spiritual decay in American society, framing it as a reflection of a deeper cultural and spiritual emptiness. Drawing from Khrushchev’s critique of Hollywood’s superficiality and the rise of pornography as America’s most visible cultural export, Sheen highlights the alarming consequences of this moral drift. He points to a staggering 800% increase in juvenile delinquency over ten years and the fact that nearly half of all serious crimes are committed by youth under 18. These statistics, coupled with the disintegration of family structures and the normalization of deviance in public life, suggest a society untethered from its Christian roots, increasingly consumed by materialism and self-indulgence.
Sheen connects this crisis to two fundamental failures: public dishonesty and the breakdown of the family as a moral anchor. Public life, marked by greed, corruption, and a loss of integrity, offers no vision of righteousness to inspire the young. At the same time, broken families, absentee parenting, and moral relativism fail to provide the formative spiritual grounding necessary for a virtuous life. Sheen sees this as a direct affront to Christian principles, where the family is intended to be the domestic church, a place where children are nurtured in faith and virtue. Without this, he argues, young people are left adrift, turning to rebellion and sensual pleasures as a means of escape, further plunging society into a cycle of spiritual desolation.
Yet, Sheen holds firm to a Christian hope for renewal. He emphasizes that youth can be saved through a rediscovery of their God-given purpose, rooted in service and the pursuit of higher truths. He recounts the transformation of a rebellious young man who found meaning through missionary work, embodying Christ’s call to serve the least among us. Sheen calls for a revival of practical and spiritual formation, including apprenticeship programs and opportunities for meaningful service, to counteract the emptiness of materialism. Above all, he urges youth to embrace the courage of non-conformity, rejecting the morally bankrupt culture of the day and becoming, like Christ, a sign of contradiction to the world. In this way, Sheen envisions a society rebuilt on the foundations of faith, integrity, and sacrificial love.
