Not content to be a political kingmaker, Franklin D. Roosevelt fancied himself a prince-of-the-church maker as well. He lobbied successfully for Francis Spellman's appointment as archbishop of New York, and in 1939, when Chicago's George William Cardinal Mundelein died, F.D.R. had his hand-picked candidate for the nation's largest archdiocese. This time he failed. Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Bernard James Sheil, the Roosevelt choice, was bypassed because he had irritated too many others inside and outside the church. Last week, after Sheil's death at 83 of heart disease, friends attending his funeral fondly...
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