The life of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, 130 years after his birth

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. Once dubbed “God’s microphone,” Sheen announced God’s truth in a nonconfrontational, yet no less life-giving, manner to untold millions through radio, print and television.

The year 2025 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of this impressive man, who is on the path to canonization.

Born in El Paso, Ill., on May 8, 1895, Sheen resolved to serve the church as a priest from an early age. Known to always have “his nose in a book,” Sheen fittingly was assigned to academic ministry following his ordination to the priesthood on Sept. 20, 1919, for the Diocese of Peoria. A philosopher at heart, Sheen said his goals for his priesthood were “to know two things: what the world is thinking about, and how to answer errors in the light of the philosophy of St. Thomas.”

After he pursued studies in Europe, a promising future awaited him as a professor. He was called back home to Peoria, however, for service as an assistant priest at a poor, inner-city parish — a true test of his obedience. Sheen threw himself into the work, exhibiting an extraordinary zeal for souls. As part of his parish ministry, he launched a door-to-door evangelization campaign.

In less than a year, Sheen landed a professorship at The Catholic University of America in Washington, which he held for 25 years. He quickly became one of the most popular professors on campus, known for his engaging and stimulating lectures. During that time, he authored more than half of his nearly 70 books.

Sheen’s oratory prowess was successful, in part, because of his commitment to using no notes. His command of material came after hours of preparation and memorization.

During the 1930s and ’40s, Sheen became a household name as host of The Catholic Hour, broadcast nationally from NBC Radio in New York. He emerged as a national voice — a prophetic truth-teller who spoke out on a host of issues, particularly the threats posed by Communism. For that, he even came under investigation by the FBI.

After his appointment as director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1950, Sheen had to give up his work as a professor and move to New York City. The next year, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of New York, ordained in Rome on June 11, 1951. Sheen began his work on behalf of the global missions with great energy, and his innovative efforts enabled him to evangelize at the same time.

On Tuesday evenings from 1952 to 1957, Sheen propagated eternal truths to an estimated audience of 30 million via his “Life Is Worth Living” television program. With apparent ease and captivating eloquence, he helped viewers find the meaning of life and drew them toward the divine — always equipped with his famous cape and chalkboard.

In addition, Sheen made millions of dollars in advertising — all of which (along with the profits from his books) directly supported the missions. He spent an hour in preparation for each of his 30 minutes on the air. As in the classroom, he refused to use notes; instead, he delivered scripts in Italian and French in preparation for his televised lessons. After his first year on the air, Sheen won an Emmy for best television personality. Upon acceptance, he famously thanked his writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Sheen’s writings and preaching were inspired by a lively and heroic faith. When he traveled the globe visiting the missions, he drew massive crowds. He was a much sought-after preacher — particularly legendary were his Good Friday sermons at a packed St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

As a pastor of souls, Sheen’s selfless ministry was marked by great faith, hope and charity. He was an attentive pastor to greatest and least alike. A rare combination of intelligence, wit and humor made him an effective evangelist. And with clear teaching and common sense, Sheen helped people make sense of life’s problems. His media efforts helped erase widespread anti-Catholicism in America.

In all that he said and did, Sheen remembered his work was the Lord’s. Once asked by Pope Pius XII how many converts he assisted, Sheen replied, “I am always afraid if I did count them, I might think I made them, instead of the Lord.”

Like St. Paul, Sheen could not pass on what he did not already first receive in Christ. Throughout his priesthood, Sheen sought to conform himself more closely to Christ by observing a daily Eucharistic Holy Hour, what he called “the hour that makes my day.” The practice brought him into a variety of circumstances, some even comical, such as when he was forced into jumping out of a window after the pastor of a Chicago church accidentally locked him in. He also was intensely devoted to the Mother of God.

Sheen battled various temptations and difficulties throughout his life, many of which came as the result of his fame. This included the hidden suffering from a decade of hostility from Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York. But in the face of his troubles, Sheen persevered in virtue. He understood his sufferings in light of God’s providence: “Christianity begins not with sunshine, but with defeat. During those days when my life was backed up against the Cross, I began to know and to love it more.”

In what would be his last Good Friday sermon, Sheen said: “There has been physical suffering. And other kinds … but as I look back over the years, I have never received the punishment I deserved. God has been easy with me. He has never laid on me burdens equal to my faith.”

Given his talents and reach, many expected Sheen to become a cardinal. After his retirement, when asked why he did not rise higher in the Church hierarchy, he said: “I refused to pay the price. … I felt it would be disloyalty to my own principles, and I think to Christian practice.”

From 1966 to 1969, Sheen served as bishop of Rochester, N.Y. It was a brief tenure, regarded by many as an exile. Sheen had been an active participant at the Second Vatican Council and as a diocesan bishop worked to implement some of its main themes, including reform of priestly formation and increase in lay participation.

Attentive to the times, his priorities often were rooted in social consciousness. He ministered to the poor, worked to improve race relations, and was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War. But despite Sheen’s best efforts, his brief tenure there was met with great resistance and resulted in a good deal of self-described failure.

After his request for early retirement was accepted in 1969, Sheen was granted the title “archbishop” by St. Paul VI. He continued preaching far and wide in his last decade, delivered retreats aimed at renewal of the priesthood throughout the country, and maintained a voice in the public square through regular media appearances.

The temptations and sufferings Sheen faced purified him and intensified his union with Christ, he maintained. Toward the end of his life, writing in his autobiography, Sheen apologized for his failures, wondering, “Was I inspiring anyone to imitate Christ in the daily carrying of his Cross?”

Two months before Sheen died, St. John Paul II embraced him during a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and said: “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the church.”

After nearly two years in and out of the hospital following open-heart surgery, Sheen died Dec. 9, 1979, in New York City, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. His devotees have multiplied in number after his death, and many have turned to him for inspiration and intercession. In 2002, a cause of canonization was opened. Sheen was declared venerable a decade later.

Archbishop Sheen’s cause has experienced setbacks on account of two controversies, including a public battle to relocate his remains from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, as well as concerns related to management of the clergy sexual abuse crisis from his time as bishop of Rochester. The Holy See requested the “postponement” of Sheen’s beatification, without explanation, just weeks before the event which was scheduled for Dec. 2019. A new date remains to be set.

However, Msgr. Jason Gray, executive director of the Peoria-based Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, has said that the archbishop’s eventual beatification is “inevitable.”

“The desire to see Sheen beatified is increasing, and there is a growing devotion to him,” Msgr. Gray told OSV News in 2024.

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