On September 24, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was beatified in a Mass at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Blessed Fulton Sheen has been called the greatest Catholic communicator of the 20th century. I am grateful to the Catholic University of America where Sheen studied and taught (and where I received my graduate degree in theology) for the brief biography of this American on his way to sainthood.
Born Peter John Sheen on May 8, 1895, to farmer Newt Sheen and his wife, Delia, in El Paso, Illinois, the future Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen went to high school at Spalding Institute, then studied at St. Viator College in Illinois and attended Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota before his ordination to the priesthood on September 20, 1919.
In 1920, he came to The Catholic University of America to continue his studies. He stayed only a year before leaving to pursue advanced study in philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Five years later, he returned to The Catholic University of America to teach. For the next 23 years, Catholic University was where Father Sheen honed his skills as a scholar, educator, orator and evangelist.
Steadily the reputation of the young Catholic University professor grew, first on campus, then in wider circles as his brilliant oratory attracted more attention from the media. Blessed Fulton Sheen began working in broadcasting in 1926 while keeping up a full teaching schedule. He published 34 books during his 23-year teaching career and another 32 after he left the University.
He was consecrated a bishop on June 11, 1951. In the Fall of that year, he began his famous television series, Life is Worth Living. It was a tremendous success, eventually reaching an estimated 30 million viewers each week, which would make it the most widely viewed religious series in the history of television. He won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, was featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and became one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century.
He also was known to have led numerous people to convert to Catholicism, from working-class New Yorkers he encountered in his daily life to celebrities who sought him out for instruction.
A consistent theme in Archbishop Sheen’s preaching throughout his life, especially in his later years, was the benefits of making a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. This was not advice that Archbishop Sheen gave without practicing it himself. Throughout his years at Catholic University, he maintained his daily holy hour, praying in Caldwell Chapel and in the private chapel in his residence. Many people who worked closely with him over the years attest that he never failed to keep his holy hour from the day of his priestly ordination until his death on the floor of his private chapel in Our Lord’s presence on Dec. 9, 1979.
We have Blessed Fulton Sheen prayer cards on tables near the doors of the church. Take one and say a prayer that he be raised to sainthood. Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us!
