In the history of American Catholicism, few figures shine as brightly as Fulton John Sheen.

A priest who became a household name, an intellectual who captivated millions with simple truths, and a bishop whose life of heroic virtue has brought him to the threshold of sainthood—Sheen's story is one of extraordinary faith, tireless evangelization, endearing humor, and deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother.

It's like being stoned to death with popcorn.

- Ven. Fulton J. Sheen on hearing nuns' confessions

From the Illinois Prairie to the World Stage

Fulton John Sheen was born on May 8, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois—a small farming community in the heart of the American Midwest.

The eldest of four sons born to Newton and Delia (Fulton) Sheen, he was baptized Peter John but came to be known by his mother's maiden name, Fulton.

His mother consecrated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary at his baptism, a dedication he would renew at his First Holy Communion and honor throughout his entire life.

The family moved to a farm outside Peoria after his father's hardware store burned down. From an early age, young Fulton showed little aptitude for farm work.

He later recalled what a neighbor once told his father:

"Newt, that oldest boy of yours, Fulton, will never be worth a damn. He's always got his nose in a book." 

His brothers enjoyed the physical labor; Fulton suffered it. His heart and mind were drawn to higher things.

 

A Prophetic Encounter

The most famous story of Sheen's early life comes from his own autobiography, Treasure in Clay.

As a young altar server at the Cathedral in Peoria, he was serving Mass for Bishop John Lancaster Spalding when he dropped a wine cruet.

It shattered on the marble floor with what Sheen described as an explosive noise that seemed to echo through the entire cathedral. The boy was terrified.

After Mass, the elderly bishop approached the frightened child and made two remarkable predictions. First, he told young Fulton that he would one day study at the University of Louvain in Belgium. Second, he said:

"Someday you will be just as I am—a bishop."

Both prophecies came true.

Education and Ordination

Sheen attended the Spalding Institute for high school (named for the same prophetic bishop) and graduated at the top of his class.

He then entered St. Viator's College in Bourbonnais, Illinois, where the seminary program allowed him to begin his priestly formation.

It was there that Sheen joined the debate team under Father William J. Bergan, developing the speaking skills that would later captivate millions.

He continued his studies at St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota, excelling academically as always.

On September 20, 1919, Fulton Sheen was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria at St. Mary's Cathedral—the very cathedral where he had once dropped that wine cruet as a nervous altar boy.

There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.

- Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

 

Two Lifelong Promises

On the day of his ordination, Father Sheen made two resolutions that he would keep for the remaining sixty years of his priesthood:

First, he promised to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every Saturday in honor of the Blessed Mother, asking for her protection over his priesthood.

Second, he resolved to spend a continuous Holy Hour every day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

These were not casual commitments. Sheen kept both promises faithfully until his death.

He later wrote:

It is impossible for me to explain how helpful the Holy Hour has been in preserving my vocation. . . . It kept my feet from wandering too far. Being tethered to a tabernacle, one's rope for finding other pastures is not so long. That dim tabernacle lamp, however pale and faint, had some mysterious luminosity to darken the brightness of 'bright lights.

The daily Holy Hour, in particular, would become the foundation of everything he accomplished.

 

Academic Brilliance

After ordination, Sheen pursued advanced studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a licentiate in sacred theology and a bachelor's degree in canon law. He then traveled to Europe, studying at the University of Louvain in Belgium—just as Bishop Spalding had predicted.

At Louvain, Sheen earned a doctorate in philosophy and received the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy, becoming the first American ever to win this prestigious distinction.

He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Angelicum in Rome, and taught theology at St. Edmund's College in Ware, England, where he befriended G.K. Chesterton. The great English writer's weekly BBC radio broadcasts would later inspire Sheen's own radio ministry.

Despite receiving numerous offers to teach at prestigious universities, Sheen declined them all out of obedience to his bishop, who assigned him instead to be an assistant pastor at a rural parish.

Having tested his obedience, the bishop later permitted him to join the faculty at The Catholic University of America, where Sheen taught philosophy and theology for twenty-four years.

 

The Voice on the Radio

The rising popularity of radio in the early twentieth century provided Sheen with a powerful new platform for evangelization. In 1930, he began hosting The Catholic Hour on NBC radio—a program that would continue for twenty-two years.

At the height of its popularity, The Catholic Hour reached four million listeners weekly. Sheen received thousands of letters from listeners of all faiths—and no faith at all—drawn to his clear thinking, warm humor, and ability to make complex theological truths accessible and relevant.

Time magazine called him "the golden-voiced Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, U.S. Catholicism's famed proselytizer." He used this platform fearlessly, speaking on topics ranging from the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist to the dangers of communism and secularism. In 1935, Pope Pius XI specifically directed Sheen to speak out against communism—a mission he pursued zealously for the rest of his life.

 

Television's First Evangelist

In 1951, Sheen was consecrated as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York. That same year, he began what would become his most famous endeavor: a weekly television program called Life Is Worth Living on the DuMont Television Network.

The show's format was remarkably simple. Bishop Sheen stood alone before the camera, often with just a chalkboard, and spoke directly to the audience about faith, morality, and the meaning of life.

He used no teleprompter and rarely consulted notes. His piercing eyes, dramatic gestures, and ability to explain profound truths with clarity and wit made him a television sensation.

Life Is Worth Living drew as many as thirty million viewers weekly—mostly non-Catholics.

The show competed for ratings with entertainment giants like Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra, and more than held its own.

When Sheen won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1953—beating out luminaries like Edward R. Murrow, Lucille Ball, and Arthur Godfrey—he famously thanked his "writers": Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Comedians like Milton Berle, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason adored Sheen, appreciated his humor, and would often sit in the production booth during his shows just to watch him. Berle himself once quipped that Sheen had a bigger audience because "he's got better writers—and they've been on the job longer."

The show generated fan mail at an astonishing rate—up to 8,500 letters per week.

Sheen responded to viewers seeking more information by sending books and pamphlets. One single day, more than 30,000 letters arrived at the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

 

The Secret of His Power: The Daily Holy Hour

Those who knew Sheen understood that his remarkable gifts as a communicator flowed from a single source: his daily hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Sheen claimed that every good idea for a lecture, sermon, or book was born during his time in prayer before the Eucharistic Lord.

He built chapels in the central rooms of both his Washington, D.C., and New York City apartments, ensuring that he never worked apart from Christ's Eucharistic presence.

He positioned his writing desk to face the tabernacle and recorded countless teachings for converts from that desk, always in the presence of his Lord.

"Looking at the Eucharistic Lord for an hour transforms the heart in a mysterious way," he wrote. "The Holy Hour is not a devotion; it is a sharing in the work of redemption. 'Could you not watch one hour with Me?' Not for an hour of activity did He plead, but for an hour of companionship."

Sheen encouraged this practice in everyone he met—priests and laity, Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

He even convinced a Protestant minister named Jack McAllister, who was engaged in worldwide evangelization, to ask his followers to spend one continuous hour daily in prayer with the Scriptures. Within six years, McAllister had mobilized over 100,000 "One-Hour-Watchers."

 

Winning Souls for Christ

Bishop Sheen was, above all, a fisher of men. It is estimated that he brought approximately 42,000 people into the Catholic Church through his preaching, teaching, and personal instruction—not counting the countless others influenced by his broadcasts and writings.

His converts came from every walk of life: from working-class New Yorkers he encountered in his daily rounds to celebrities who sought him out. Among those he personally instructed and received into the Church were:

Clare Boothe Luce — the brilliant journalist, playwright, U.S. Congresswoman, and wife of Time/Life publisher Henry Luce

Louis Budenz — editor of The Daily Worker, the Communist Party USA's newspaper, who renounced communism and returned to the Catholic faith of his youth

Bella Dodd — a high-ranking member of the Communist Party who left the party and converted to Catholicism

Henry Ford II — the automobile executive and grandson of the company's founder

Fritz Kreisler — the legendary violinist and composer

Virginia Mayo — the Hollywood actress

Heywood Broun — the agnostic journalist and critic

Elizabeth Bentley — the former Soviet spy who became a Catholic convert

The conversion of Louis Budenz was particularly dramatic. The Communist Party had actually assigned Budenz and his wife Margaret to study Sheen's broadcasts and writings with the goal of undermining his influence. Instead, through their encounters with Sheen's thought and eventually with the man himself, both became Catholics.

 

Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith

In 1958, Sheen was appointed National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Church's central organization for supporting Catholic missions worldwide. For sixteen years, he led this effort for 129 dioceses throughout the United States, raising many millions of dollars for missionaries in the poorest parts of the world.

This position brought Sheen into conflict with Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York. When the government donated millions of dollars' worth of powdered milk to the New York Archdiocese, Spellman turned it over to the Society for distribution to the world's poor—but then demanded that Sheen pay the Archdiocese for it.

Despite enormous pressure, Sheen refused. These were funds donated by the public for the missions, and Sheen would not divert them.

The conflict eventually reached Rome and contributed to Sheen's departure from television. Yet Sheen never spoke ill of Spellman publicly, maintaining his dignity and charity even under intense pressure.

 

Bishop of Rochester and Final Years

In 1966, Sheen was appointed Bishop of Rochester, New York. He threw himself into the work of the diocese, implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (in which he had participated from 1962 to 1965, working closely with the young theologian Father Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI).

After nearly three years, Sheen resigned as he approached his seventy-fifth birthday and was appointed Archbishop of the titular see of Newport in Wales by Pope Paul VI.

This appointment allowed him the flexibility to continue preaching, which he did tirelessly—traveling the world, leading retreats for clergy, and proclaiming the Gospel wherever he was invited.

His health declined in his final years, requiring several surgeries. Yet he continued his missionary work until the end.

 

"You Have Written and Spoken Well of the Lord Jesus"

On October 3, 1979, Pope John Paul II visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

The Holy Father specifically asked to greet Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who was seated in the Lady Chapel near the back of the cathedral—his favorite place to pray.

Brought forward to the center of the sanctuary, the frail archbishop was embraced by the Pope, who spoke words that summarized his entire life: "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church."

Two months later, on December 9, 1979, Fulton John Sheen passed into eternal life. He was eighty-four years old.

 

The Cause for Canonization

The cause for Sheen's canonization was officially opened in 2002 by Bishop Daniel Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria.

Following years of investigation into his life, writings, and reputation for holiness, the diocesan phase concluded in 2008 and the records were sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Congregation had recognized Sheen's life as one of "heroic virtue"—a major step toward beatification.

From that point forward, he has been titled "Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen."

The Miracle

For beatification, the Church requires verification of a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession. In Sheen's case, that miracle involved a baby boy named James Fulton Engstrom.

On September 16, 2010, Bonnie and Travis Engstrom of Goodfield, Illinois—near Peoria, Sheen's home diocese—were expecting their third child.

Throughout her pregnancy, Bonnie had prayed daily for Sheen's intercession, asking him to watch over her unborn son and to walk with him throughout his life. They planned to name the baby James Fulton in Sheen's honor.

During delivery, unknown to anyone, a rare true knot had formed in James's umbilical cord. As labor progressed, the knot tightened, cutting off his blood and oxygen supply. When he emerged, James was stillborn—blue, limp, pulseless. His arms flopped to his sides when his mother reached for him.

The midwife and others at the home birth performed CPR for twenty minutes while waiting for an ambulance. At the hospital, doctors tried every medical intervention available.

Nothing worked.

After sixty-one minutes without a pulse, the medical team was preparing to call time of death.

Throughout this nightmare, Bonnie Engstrom prayed. "I just kept repeating his name over and over in my head," she later recalled. "Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen, Fulton Sheen. I didn't know what else to do."

And then—with no medical explanation—James Fulton's heart began to beat. His color returned. He began to breathe.

Doctors warned the parents that after sixty-one minutes without oxygen, the baby would certainly suffer catastrophic brain damage. He would likely be blind, unable to walk or talk, unable to feed himself. But James continued to defy every prognosis. Today, he is a healthy, active teenager with no lasting effects from his traumatic birth.

Vatican medical experts unanimously declared the healing scientifically inexplicable. The theological commission unanimously agreed it was a miracle attributable to Sheen's intercession. In July 2019, Pope Francis approved the miracle, clearing the way for Sheen's beatification.

The beatification was scheduled for December 21, 2019, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Peoria—the very cathedral where Sheen had been ordained exactly one hundred years earlier.

However, it was postponed at the last moment due to concerns raised by some bishops regarding Sheen's tenure in Rochester, which required further investigation.

As of early 2025, the Diocese of Peoria continues to actively promote Sheen's cause. Recent reports indicate that the Vatican may soon announce a new date for his beatification.

There are two ways of waking up in the morning. One is to say, 'Good morning, God,' and the other is to say, 'Good God, morning!'

-Ven. Fulton J. Sheen

 

A Legacy That Endures

More than four decades after his death, Fulton Sheen's influence continues to grow. His television programs are broadcast on EWTN and other networks to new generations of viewers.

His more than sixty books remain in print, touching souls who weren't born when he died. His teachings on the Eucharist, the Blessed Mother, marriage, suffering, and the meaning of life remain as relevant and powerful as ever.

Perhaps most importantly, his example of a priest utterly devoted to prayer—spending an hour every single day before the Blessed Sacrament for sixty years—continues to inspire clergy and laity alike. Sheen understood that everything he accomplished flowed from that daily encounter with Christ in the Eucharist.

"The Holy Hour became like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world," he wrote in his autobiography. "Even this autobiography is written in His presence, that He might inspire others when I am gone to make the Hour that makes Life."

The young Pope John Paul II once learned English in part by listening to Fulton Sheen's broadcasts. When the two finally met in person during the Second Vatican Council, they became friends. And when the Pope embraced the dying archbishop in St. Patrick's Cathedral, his words captured the essence of a life well lived:

"You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church."

May we, through his intercession, do the same.

 

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Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, pray for us.