 He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 6 from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Paul John Hallinan and Floyd Lawrence Begin serving as co-consecrators.Between 1962 and 1965, he attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council.Following the resignation of Archbishop John Mark Gannon, Whealon was named the sixth Bishop of Erie, Pennsylvania, by Pope Paul VI on December 9, 1966.