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Francis Joseph Sheed (20 March 1897 – 20 November 1981)[1] was an Australian-born lawyer, Catholic writer, publisher, speaker, and lay theologian. He and his wifeMaisie Ward were the names behind the imprintSheed & Ward and as forceful public lecturers in theCatholic Evidence Guild.
Sheed was born in Sydney on 20 March 1897 to John Sheed, a descendant of Scottish Presbyterians, and English-born Mary Maloney. His mother's family wereIrish Catholic. Baptized Catholic, at the insistence of their father, Frank Sheed and his brother Jack were raisedProtestant.[2] Frank attended a Methodist church but surreptitiously made his Catholic First Holy Communion and Confirmation. He attended Sydney Boys’ High School and in 1917 obtained a B.A. from the University of Sydney.[1]
In 1920, Sheed travelled to London, where he encountered theCatholic Evidence Guild whose lay Catholics expounded the faith. He joined the group and became an effective soapbox orator. With an understanding of Protestant attitudes toward Catholicism, Sheed took up writing and speaking on the subject of Catholicapologetics, the rational defense of the Catholic faith. Through his activity with the Guild he metMaisie Ward, daughter ofWilfrid Ward, a prominent Catholic essayist and biographer.
Sheed and Maisie Ward were married in April 1926. That same year, they moved to London, where Sheed and Maisie's brother Leo established the publishing house of Sheed and Ward. When Leo Ward left to become a priest, Maisie took his place as publisher. Their sonWilfrid Sheed was an essayist and novelist; their daughter, Rosemary, a translator.
As publisher of an all-star roster includingKarl Adam,Hilaire Belloc,G. K. Chesterton,Christopher Dawson,Ida Friederike Görres,Ronald Knox,Hugh Pope, andEvelyn Waugh, Sheed maintained a robust Catholic faith while keeping abreast of progressive trends. Frank Sheed wrote a constant stream of books touching on almost every aspect of basictheology, several of which remain in print. His translation ofSt. Augustine'sConfessions remains acclaimed.In 1933 they opened a branch in New York and became "the most influential Catholic publishers in the English-speaking world".[1]
In 1956Lille Catholic University awarded him a doctorate in divinity. He published an autobiography,The Church and I (1974). Frank Sheed died on 20 November 1981 at Jersey City and was buried in the Holy Name cemetery.
