The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen hosted the popular TV program ‘Life Is Worth Living’ in the 1950s
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NEED TO KNOW
- The late Archbishop Fulton John Sheen was beatified in St. Louis on Thursday, Sept. 24, in another step toward sainthood
- Sheen became a nationally recognized figure thanks to a popular religious show that earned an Emmy in 1953
- Pope Francis approved Sheen’s miracle in 2019
Well before Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes, the late Archbishop Fulton John Sheen was regarded as perhaps America’s first televangelist — a career that led to a string of honors both inside and outside of his faith.
In the early 1950s, Sheen, then an auxiliary bishop, hosted the primetime Life is Worth Living, in which he espoused moral and religious messages.
In an era of mega-popular programs like I Love Lucy and The Milton Berle Show, the series became a hit and drew 30 million viewers a week, even earning Sheen a Time magazine cover in 1952, before it ended in 1957.
Through his TV show, Sheen became a national figure. Nearly 50 years after his death, he is now one step toward sainthood after he was beatified on Thursday, Sept. 24, during a Mass at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis.
“The Church in the Diocese of Peoria, IL rejoices today in the Beatification,” Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Ill., where Sheen was born, said in a statement shared by Sheen’s foundation.
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“We join with the Church throughout the world in celebrating this extraordinary moment and giving thanks for the heroic witness of faith that Blessed Fulton Sheen offered throughout his life,” Tylka continued. “Through his life, he brought the Gospel to millions of people and continually pointed them to Jesus Christ in many varied ways.”
President Donald Trump separately praised Sheen in his own statement.
“Melania and I join all those celebrating the life and legacy of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen—the Catholic priest who pioneered the use of media to speak the truth, preach the Gospel, and bring many souls closer to Christ,” Trump said. “Today, Archbishop Sheen will become the first-ever American-born bishop to be beatified by the Catholic Church.”
Sheen was born in Peoria on May 8, 1895, according to his foundation biography.
Raised and educated as a Catholic, he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria at St. Mary’s Cathedral in 1919.
He returned to America after receiving a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium in 1923 and performing work in Europe.
From 1927 to 1950, he taught theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
In 1930, Sheen served as the host of a weekly Sunday evening radio program, The Catholic Hour, which ran for 20 years and drew 4 million listeners, according to his foundation.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951. television broadcast. For his work on Life Is Worth Living, Sheen received an Emmy in 1953, beating out both Lucille Ball and CBS’ Edward R. Murrow.
Fifteen years later, he became bishop of Rochester, N.Y., and hosted another TV show, The Fulton Sheen Program, which aired through 1968.
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Sheen later resigned his post in Rochester to become archbishop of titular see of Newport, Wales. In 1979, two months before Sheen’s death at age 84, Pope John Paul II embraced him at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
He told Sheen, per the foundation, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the church.”
Beatification is the second of three stages as part of the canonization process toward sainthood in the Catholic Church. A requirement is a verified miracle attributed to the candidate either during their lifetime or after death.
Sheen’s miracle was approved by the late Pope Francis in 2019, after an infant, James Fulton Engstrom, was born in 2010 with no pulse and was resuscitated and revived by medical workers, according to the Associated Press.
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“I also remember in my head saying Fulton Sheen’s name over and over,” Bonnie Engstromm, James’ mom, recently told NBC affiliate KSDK. “‘Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen.’ ”
James’s heart started to beat and a scan later revealed that he had a normal, healthy brain.
“We were like, ‘This is a miracle. This is a miracle,’ ” Engstrom said. “And that’s when I called the Sheen Foundation to tell them the story.”
Pope Leo acknowledged Sheen the day before the beatification, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, during remarks at St. Peter’s Square.
“May the example and intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work through the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the Gospel message with joyful enthusiasm,” Leo said.
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