When Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, announced on Feb. 9 that the Vatican had approved the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, he did so by celebrating him as “one of the greatest voices of evangelization” in the 20th century.
The news of the Vatican greenlighting Archbishop Sheen’s beatification came after a years-long postponement. No date or location for the celebration has been set, but Bishop Tylka said he is working through the details with the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.
“As he journeyed through the different stages of his life, his ability to share the Gospel and truly relate to people drew countless souls into an encounter with Jesus — one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched,” Bishop Tylka said while announcing the Vatican’s decision.
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This sentiment about Archbishop Sheen’s influence has been shared by countless Catholics nationwide. However, there is much that happened before and after Archbishop Sheen’s television successes that gives a more complete story of a man loved and revered by so many.
A Bishop’s Prediction
The eldest of four sons born to Newt Sheen and his wife, Delia, Peter John Sheen was born on May 8, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois. As a young boy, he came to be known by his mother’s maiden name, Fulton, which stuck for the remainder of his life.
Also, at a young age, Archbishop Sheen seemed destined for the priesthood.
As the story goes, according to a biography published by the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., Bishop John Spalding of Peoria once told Archbishop Sheen, then an 8-year-old altar server, two predictions he had about him. First, that he would one day study at The Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and second, that “someday you will be just as I am.”
Both predictions would come true.
After high school, Archbishop Sheen attended Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria on Sept. 20, 1919. Following his ordination, he moved overseas and earned a doctorate in Philosophy from Louvain.
Finding His Voice
After completing his studies abroad, Archbishop Sheen returned to the U.S. in 1926 and began a 23-year tenure as a faculty member at CUA. It was during that time that Archbishop Sheen became involved in media.
In 1930, Archbishop Sheen, then still a priest, was asked to fill in for two weeks on “The Catholic Hour” radio program. Following a positive response, Archbishop Sheen was given a weekly slot on “The Catholic Hour,” which he would hold until 1950.
The program was so successful that at the time he left CUA in 1950 to become the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, he was one of the most well-known Catholics of the time.
Archbishop Sheen’s next stop was the Big Apple. Pope Pius XII appointed him an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, and he was ordained a bishop on June 11, 1951.
In early 1952, he launched his television series, “Life Is Worth Living,” which ran until early April 1957. A tremendous success, the show brought Archbishop Sheen national acclaim and an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality. At its peak, the program reached an estimated 30 million viewers weekly.
In 1961, Archbishop Sheen returned to the screen through “The Fulton Sheen Program,” which ran until 1968. It was essentially a revival of “Life Is Worth Living.”
Ecclesiastically, Archbishop Sheen served the Archdiocese of New York until 1966, when he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. He resigned from that role in 1969 to focus on media evangelization, writing in his resignation letter that he is “not retiring, only retreading.”
After his early retirement was accepted, Pope Paul VI named him archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales. Archbishop Sheen spent the remaining years of his life chiefly writing and preaching.
He died on Dec. 9, 1979, at the age of 84.
The First Miracle
Archbishop Sheen’s influence on Catholics nationwide remains to this day, but perhaps to no one more than a 15-year-old boy in Illinois who prays to him “basically every day,” and considers him his “protector.”
Born Sept. 16, 2010, James Engstrom didn’t have a pulse or take a breath for 61 minutes after a planned home birth due to a knot in his umbilical cord. His parents, Bonnie and Travis Engstrom, had entrusted their baby to Fulton Sheen during their pregnancy, and they turned to him for a miraculous healing through his intercession.
Word spread quickly, and people around the Diocese of Peoria and beyond joined the Engstroms in storming heaven with prayer. James’ heart began to beat just as the medical team at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria decided they had no further options.
The newborn’s healing, which doctors could not explain, was attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen. It became the miracle that cleared the way for his beatification.
“It’s pretty cool. I like being the ‘miracle baby,’ ” James said, adding that having a role in Archbishop Sheen’s sainthood cause makes him feel “special.”
OSV News contributed to this story.