Venerable Fulton Sheen

• Fulton John Sheen was born May 8, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois to a farmer, Newt Sheen, and Delia his wife. He served as an altar boy at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Illinois, and attended school at St. Viator College in Bourbonnais where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1917 and a master’s degree in 1919.

• Later that year, Sheen was ordained to the priesthood. He pursued further studies at the Catholic University of America where he obtained a degree in Canon Law in 1920.

• Sheen also earned a PhD in philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1923 and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 1924.

• Aside from being an esteemed teacher, Sheen was also a brilliant orator. He began his radio career on the program The Catholic Hour which was estimated to have reached four million listeners.

• Sheen was named a titular bishop in 1951 and served as auxiliary bishop of New York until 1966.

• During his term in New York, Sheen hosted a weekly television series Life is Worth Living until 1957. During this show, the bishop often spoke without a script and discussed practical matters about the faith. He also criticized communism.

• Sheen also wrote numerous books and newspaper columns. Among these were Communism and the Conscience of the West (1948), Way to Inner Peace (1955), and The Power of Love (1965).

• Sheen was appointed archbishop of Newport, Wales in 1969. Sheen also served as Pope Paul VI’s Assistant to the Pontifical Throne from 1976 until Sheen’s death three years later.

• In 1979 at age 84, Sheen passed away shortly after an open-heart surgery.
• Benedict XVI declared Sheen “venerable”, officially recognizing him for having lived a holy and virtuous life.

• Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Sheen in 2019. This is a big step toward Sheen’s future beatification.

Pray for the Canonization of Venerable Fulton Sheen!