Fulton J. Sheen | |||||||||||||||||
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 Sheen on the set of his show Life Is Worth Living | |||||||||||||||||
| Church | Catholic Church | ||||||||||||||||
| See | Rochester | ||||||||||||||||
| Appointed | October 21, 1966 | ||||||||||||||||
| Term ended | October 6, 1969 | ||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | James Edward Kearney | ||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Joseph Lloyd Hogan | ||||||||||||||||
| Other post(s) | Titular Archbishop of Neoportus (Latin: Newport, Wales; 1969–1979) | ||||||||||||||||
| Previous post(s) |
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| Orders | |||||||||||||||||
| Ordination | September 20, 1919 by Edmund M. Dunne | ||||||||||||||||
| Consecration | June 11, 1951 by Adeodato Giovanni Piazza | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | Peter John Sheen May 8, 1895[1] El Paso, Illinois,[1] United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | December 9, 1979 (aged 84) New York City, United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Buried | St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City (1979–2019) St. Mary's Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois (since 2019) | ||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Illinois; New York | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Catholic bishop, evangelist, professor | ||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||
| Motto | Da per matrem me venire (English: "Grant that I may come [to You] through the mother [Mary]") | ||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||
| Coat of arms |  | ||||||||||||||||
| Sainthood | |||||||||||||||||
| Shrines | Tomb (St. Mary's Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois) Birthplace museum in El Paso, Illinois Fulton Sheen Museum, Peoria | ||||||||||||||||
Ordination history | |||||||||||||||||
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| Styles of Fulton J. Sheen | |
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| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Your Excellency |
| Posthumous style | Venerable |
Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an American bishop of the Catholic Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in Illinois, in 1919,[1] Sheen quickly became a renowned theologian, earning the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923. He went on to teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and served as a parish priest before he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951. He held this position until 1966 when he was made bishop of the Diocese of Rochester in New York. He resigned as bishop of Rochester in 1969[2] as his 75th birthday approached and was made archbishop of the titular see of Newport, Wales.
For 20 years as "Father Sheen", later monsignor, he hosted the night-time radio program The Catholic Hour on NBC (1930–1950) before he moved to television and presented Life Is Worth Living (1952–1957). Sheen's final presenting role was on the syndicated The Fulton Sheen Program (1961–1968) with a format that was very similar to that of the earlier Life Is Worth Living show. For that work, Sheen twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine.[3] Starting in 2009, his shows were being re-broadcast on the EWTN and the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Church Channel cable networks.[4] His contribution to televised preaching resulted in Sheen often being called one of the first televangelists.[5]
The cause for his canonization was officially opened in 2002. In June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints stating that he lived a life of "heroic virtues," a major step towards beatification, and he is now referred to as venerable.[6][7] On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis approved a reputed miracle that occurred through the intercession of Sheen, clearing the way for his beatification.[8] Sheen was scheduled to be beatified in Peoria on December 21, 2019, but his beatification was postponed after Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester expressed concern that Sheen's handling of a 1963 sexual misconduct case against a priest might be cited unfavorably in a forthcoming report from the New York Attorney General. The Diocese of Peoria countered that Sheen's handling of the case had already been "thoroughly examined" and "exonerated" and that Sheen had "never put children in harm's way".[9]
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
cause-biowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Archbishop Fulton John Sheen". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- ^ "Biography of Fulton J. Sheen". Catholic University of America. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ "Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen". Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
- ^ Rodgers, Ann (August 29, 2006). "Emmy-winning televangelist on path toward sainthood: Sheen would be 1st American-born man canonized". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ Otterman, Sharon (June 29, 2012). "For a 1950s TV Evangelist, a Step Toward Sainthood". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
- ^ "The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen: a model of virtue for our time". News.va. Pontifical Council for Social Communications. June 30, 2012. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
- ^ "Archbishop Fulton Sheen to be beatified", America. Associated Press, July 6, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
delaywas invoked but never defined (see the help page).