In 1952 when he received an Emmy for the Most Outstanding Television Personality, Bishop Sheen thanked his writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The greatest evangelist of the Church in America.
“A Paris reporter asked TV-Comedian Milton Berle how he felt about the Bishop Fulton Sheen program which is on a competing channel with his own show. Said Berle: “We’re known as Uncle Miltie and Uncle Fultie now. It doesn’t make any difference if we’re in competition. It’s a pleasure to have him opposite me. After all, we’re both using old material.”
Bishop Sheen would repeat the remark on his show with a smile. Actually Uncle Miltie was seething. “Mr. Television” was having his head handed to him in the ratings by a Catholic Bishop! Who was this guy?
Born in El Paso, Illinois in 1895, his family moved to Peoria where Fulton Sheen quickly showed academic promise graduating as Valedictorian at the Spalding institute in 1913. Ordained a priest in 1919, Father Sheen earned a Doctorate in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain in 1923. Teaching philosophy at Catholic University in Washington DC, Father Sheen quickly gained a reputation as an effective and popular teacher. In 1930 the man and new media met: Father Sheen began a weekly radio broadcast called The Catholic Hour. By 1950 Sheen had a radio audience of 4,000,000 listeners.
1951 was a year of destiny for Father Sheen. He was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York and began his TV show, the aptly named Life is Worth Living. Sheen was a phenomenal success from the beginning, as this cover story from Time magazine in 1952 indicates.
The show ran until 1957 with an audience of 30,000,000 people. From 1961-1968 Bishop Sheen had a syndicated show, The Fulton Sheen Program.
Bishop Sheen’s tenure as Bishop of Rochester, commencing in 1966, was tempestuous, and he took early retirement in 1969. Made an Archbishop of the titular see of Newport in Wales by Pope Paul VI, Sheen continued writing and speaking until ill health restricted his activities in 1977. Dying in 1979, since his death the diocese of Peoria has promoted his canonization and behind the scenes forces at the Vatican and elsewhere have stopped his canonization to this point.
As Thomas Reeves, a Sheen biographer, noted here, Fulton Sheen was clearly in his time the greatest Catholic media star. Why was he so successful? First, a wonderful voice that he could play with a skill that most organists would envy. Second, a formidable intellect that allowed him to wrestle successfully with deep philosophical questions and present them to his audience in a simple, but not simplistic, manner. Third, a true “ham” flair for the dramatic. With his grand gestures, and his dramatic stances he could easily have seemed ridiculous, but for the wit and good humor which accompanied them. Fourth, he broke the “fourth wall” time and again, making his television audience his ally in his humorous fight against all the technical foibles and limitations of the new medium of television. A remarkable talent to match a remarkable faith.
I vaguely remember my parents watching Archbishop Sheen’s show on black and white TV. Also they listened to a record of his speeches. Every once in a while my dad would pull out that record and the one of Gen McArthur’s farewell to Congress speech.
What a gift to mankind he was. Imagine a Catholic Bishop broadcasting on a mainstream television network today?! Folks in that era were Blessed to have had Fulton Sheens on their TV screens. That would only be a dream today. (Unless of course you have EWTN or similar but you know what I mean).
I remember during Lent one Sunday a few years back, in Australia, a mainstream Channel broadcast a Catholic Mass from Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral presided by Bishop Anthony Fisher. It was during the Covid lockdowns. I couldn’t believe it at the time. It felt surreal. It felt like a flower had bloomed from a desert earth. The kids were amazed. Sometimes our Faith feels like it is hidden to the world.
I never tire of watching him.
J M J
Satan’s stronghold on society is nearing an end, imo. An era will unfold with unprecedented graces and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit which will resemble Pentecost.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen will have been declared a Saint just prior to this Triumphant era of Our Lady. A holy Pope will canonize him. A Holy people will give God the Glory due to God.
All praises, glory and honor be Gods forever.
We keep our lamps full of oil as any wise virgin would do. We do not know the time, but the time is coming. Until then, we face the tempest with courage and fear not. We have at our side and army of angels and saints who will not abandon us.
The final battle will crush the spirits of the unfaithful. The unchurched will cry out and despair. Hopeless, they fight not. Surrendering to the enemy, they walk off bound in shackles and heads laid low.
The Legion of Mary, however, stands erect and fearless. They cut through the enemy lines and can not be stopped.
A terrible and great day is coming.
God love You.
🙏
One of my favorite examples of his charm and wit was his definitions of flattery and blarney.
“Flattery is when it’s laid on so thick you hate it. Blarney is when it’s laid on so thin you love it.”
His example of blarney. He was on the subway when an older lady got on. He gave up his seat to her, and she said, “Oh you are a jewel!”
He replied, “No madame, I am a jeweler. I set jewels.”
Sheen definitely had a stage presence that was second to none and probably the greatest preacher in American history. His problem was he was prone to histrionics at times. The disgraceful way he condemned the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as was an example of just how bad he could be at times.