Fulton Sheen

Blessed Fulton Sheen (1895–1979) was one of the most influential Catholic evangelists of the twentieth century. 

Peter John Sheen was born in the small town of El Paso, Illinois, on May 8, 1895. His devout Catholic parents, Newton and Delia (Fulton) Sheen, raised their four sons in a faithful household. The family later moved to nearby Peoria, where young Fulton (as he preferred to be called) served at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.  After graduating as valedictorian, he attended St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, Illinois, where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in philosophy and theology.

Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria on September 20, 1919, in the same cathedral where he had grown up serving at the altar.

In response to a request by the National Council of Catholic Men, he began hosting a weekly radio show, The Catholic Hour, in 1930. There, he impacted millions of listeners with his natural charisma and storytelling, combined with deep personal holiness, courage of his convictions, and great strength of character. 

In 1950, upon the recommendation of Cardinal Spellman of New York, Blessed Sheen was appointed the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (now known as the Pontifical Mission Societies), a position in which he would serve until 1966. 

Sheen was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951 by Pope Pius XII. At that time, he also began hosting a weekly television program called Life Is Worth Living, which became immensely popular. At its height, the program was seen by nearly thirty million people every week and was number one in the ratings. 

Just a year after Life Is Worth Living premiered, Sheen won a Primetime Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1953. In his acceptance speech, he noted that he wanted to thank his writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

In 1969, at the required age of seventy-five, he submitted his resignation as Bishop of Rochester. The pope then appointed him as titular (i.e., honorary) archbishop of Newport (in Wales) in October of that year. He spent the last decade of his life quietly, travelling, giving retreats, and writing. He completed his autobiography, Treasure in Clay, during his final years.

Blessed Fulton Sheen died on December 9, 1979, at the age of eighty-four, in New York.