Archbishop
Fulton Sheen
1895–Born on May
8th in El Paso, Illinois, the oldest of four sons of Newton and Delia
Fulton Sheen though he was baptized Peter John, throughout his life he
was known by his mother’s maiden name, Fulton. After his baptism, his
mother dedicated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a dedication he
himself renewed at his First Holy Communion. He lived with his family
for a time on a farm outside Peoria, Illinois.
- (May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979)
- Was television's first preacher of note, hosting Life Is Worth Living in the early 1950s on the DuMont Television Network.
- Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, the oldest of
four sons of a farmer. Though he was known as Fulton, his mother's
maiden name, he was baptized Peter John Sheen. As an infant, Sheen
contracted tuberculosis. After the family moved to nearby Peoria,
Illinois, Sheen's first role in the Catholic church was as an altar boy
at St. Mary's Cathedral.
- After earning high school valedictorian honors at Spalding Insititute in Peoria in 1913, Sheen was educated at St. Viator College, Bourbonnais, Illinois. Making the debating team in his freshman year, his coach called him aside the night before a major debate with the University of Notre Dame, and told him bluntly: "Sheen, you're absolutely the worst speaker I ever heard."
- Sheen attended St. Paul's Seminary in Minnesota before his ordination on September 20, 1919, then followed that with further studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C..
- Sheen earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in 1923. While there, he became the first American ever to win the Cardinal Mercier award for the best philosophical treatise.
- Sheen then taught theology at St. Edmund's College, Ware in England, In 1926, the Bishop of his hometown in Peoria asked him to take over St. Patrick's Parish. After eight months, Sheen returned to Catholic University to teach philosophy.
- Sheen wrote the first of some 90 books in 1925, and in 1930 began a weekly Sunday night radio broadcast, The Catholic Hour
- Sheen served as Auxiliary Bishop of New York from 1951 to 1965. In 1951 he also began a weekly television program on the DuMont network, Life is Worth Living. The show, scheduled for Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m., was not expected to offer much of a challenge against ratings giants Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra, but surprisingly held its own, causing Berle to joke, "He uses old material, too". In 1952, Bishop Sheen won an Emmy Award for his efforts, accepting the acknowledgement by saying, "I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
- On October 2, 1979, two months before Sheen's death,
Pope John Paul II visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and
embraced Sheen, saying, "You have
written and spoken well of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You are a loyal son of the Church."
- In 2002 Sheen's Cause for Canonization was officially opened, and so he is now referred to as a Servant of God.
- Reruns of Sheen's various programs continue to air
on the Eternal Word Television
Network (EWTN) and the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
