Blessed Fulton Sheen

“…for I will give you words and a wisdom which none of your adversaries can take exception to or contradict.” -Luke 21:15

Imagine if a bishop hosted a weekly unscripted primetime television show to preach the gospel. How many people would watch? Would you believe approximately 30 million every week or 20-25% of every man, woman and child in the country? That is the size of the audience Bishop Fulton Sheen attracted for his show, Life is Worth Living, in the 1950s, most of them non-Catholics. For perspective, that is the same number of viewers who watched 2025-26’s most-watched program, Netflix’s Stranger Things. Not even Ol’ Blue Eyes could compete with Archbishop Sheen’s popularity, leading to The Frank Sinatra Show’s cancellation.

Peter John Sheen (called “Fulton,” his mother’s maiden name) was born in 1895 near Peoria IL. Ordained in 1919, he continued studying, becoming the 1st American to earn the Cardinal Mercier Award for International Philosophy. As a Catholic University professor, he began hosting a weekly Sunday night radio program, The Catholic Hour, attracting 4 million listeners each week for two decades. In 1951, as Auxiliary Bishop of New York, he moved his radio program to TV, renaming it Life is Worth Living. That year, he won the Emmy award for Most Outstanding Television Personality. He became bishop of Rochester NY in 1966 and Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport Wales in 1969. Throughout his 60-year ministry, he authored more than 50 books and articles, focusing on the Catholic faith’s moral aspects from a natural law and philosophy perspective.

Archbishop Sheen was beatified on 9/24/2026. For beatification, an individual must have a reputation for holiness and for intercessory power (through proven miracles). This second requirement was unanimously approved when his intercession was credited with restoring James Fulton Engstrom to life after being stillborn in 2011, lying 61 minutes without a heartbeat or respiration. As for his reputation for holiness, we can think of at least 30 million witnesses who can testify to that. Blessed Fulton Sheen, please pray for us!

Brother Knights: Don’t forget to register for the CT Catholic Men’s Conference next Saturday, 10/10, at Holy Cross HS in Waterbury: https://www.ctcatholicmen.org/