On September 24th, Cardinal Tagle held Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification mass at the Dome of America’s Center in St. Louis, among 50,000 faithful from around the world. Many young Catholics have recently become familiar with the Archbishop through clips of his sermons on the internet, but this event marked the continuation of a twenty year campaign to recognize one of God’s greatest stars.
Blessed Fulton Sheen was born on May 8th, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois, Sheen was raised in a devout, working-class Irish-American family. In 1919, he was ordained into the priesthood and went on to earn degrees from The Catholic University of America, the Belgian Catholic University of Leuven, and Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. A towering mind, Father Sheen earned the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923. He taught at Catholic University until around 1951, when he ascended to the title of Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Then in 1966 he gained the Bishopric of Rochester, New York. Around his 75th birthday , he was given the Archdiocese of Newport, Wales, to focus on his writings.
Though his formal roles in the Church are very impressive, Father Sheen would become best known for his media personality. In 1930, Father Sheen began his “Catholic Hour” Sunday broadcasts, reaching 4 million average radio listeners. In the 1950’s, he would become a household name through the show Life is Worth Living. Father Sheen competed with personalities like “Mr. Television” and Frank Sinatra for a primetime slot, winning out with nothing but a chalkboard and, often off-the-cuff, moral lectures. In its first year, the show earned Father Sheen an Emmy for ‘Most Outstanding Personality’, which was followed by two more Emmy-nominations. By 1957, Father Sheen drew in 30 million weekly— mostly non-Catholic— viewers, and he donated all of the profits to charity.
Life is Worth Living, and later The Fulton Sheen Program, is where most of us became familiar with the late Archbishop. In recent years, his lectures have gained a new life through social media. Some of these lectures featured things like arguments against moral relativism, the idea of taking up your cross, a dramatic reading of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in the context of the USSR, or other convicting arguments which have captivated the minds of Americans for generations.
His beatification is a great victory for the American Catholic Church, one which we may take a filial joy in. Generations of Americans will venerate the Archbishop as his piety continues to intercede for this nation, perhaps among the 249 other great Americans set to be featured in the National Garden of American Heroes [1].
Thanks be to God, and Blessed Fulton Sheen pray for us!
End Notes
[1] Molloy, Caroline. "Ven. Fulton Sheen among Many Catholic Figures to Be Featured in National Garden of American Heroes." Catholic Conference of Oklahoma. February 26, 2025. https://okcatholic.org/ven-fulton-sheen-among-many-catholic-figures-to-be-featured-in-national-garden-of-american-heroes/. [1, 2]