SHEEN, FULTON J.

Radio preacher, television personality, bishop; b. El Paso, Illinois, May 8, 1895; d. New York, N.Y., Dec. 9,1979. He was one of the four sons of Newton Morris and Delia (Fulton) Sheen. Baptized Peter, he took the name of John at confirmation and later adopted his mother's maiden name. While still a small child, he moved with his family to Peoria where he attended Saint Mary's Cathedral School and then went on to Spalding Institute, a Peoria high school then conducted by the Brothers of Mary where he graduated in 1913. It was at Saint Viator College, Bourbonnais, Illinois, that young Sheen's forensic talents as a member of the debating team, which for the first time defeated Notre Dame, foreshadowed his future fame. He was likewise on the editorial staff of The Viatorian, the journal of his college that had been founded in 1865 by the Clerics of Saint Viator.

Having received his A.B. in 1917, along with his classmate and fellow diocesan, Charles A. Hart, a future professor of philosophy in the catholic university of america, the two pursued their theological training in the Saint Paul Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota, which ended with ordination to the priesthood on Sept. 20, 1919. After receiving S.T.L. and J.C.B. degrees at The catholic university of america in 1920 Sheen was sent by Edmund M. Dunne, Bishop of Peoria, himself a Louvain alumnus, to The Catholic University of louvain where he earned his Ph.D. degree, winning in 1925 for his scholarly volume, God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy, Louvain's coveted Agrégé en philosophie, the first American to receive this distinction. Further studies at the Sorbonne and Rome's Collegio Angelico brought the S.T.D. degree, whereupon the young priest returned to Peoria where for a year he served as a curate at Saint Patrick's Church.

Called to the faculty of The Catholic University of America in 1926, Sheen taught theology and the philosophy of religion there until 1950 when he was appointed National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith with residence in New York. By this time he had attained a national reputation for his broadcasts on the Catholic Hour, a reputation that was enhanced by his "Life Is Worth Living" telecasts begun in 1951, as well as for his preaching, notably in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Many of these religious discourses were later published and constituted a majority of the nearly 70 books that appeared under his name. Meanwhile he instructed an uncommon number of converts from those of humble station such as his devoted housekeeper, Fanny Washington, to nationally known figures such as the journalist Heywood Broun, Clare Boothe Luce, et al. As the years passed Fulton Sheen was the recipient of numerous honors in the form of awards and honorary degrees, along with ecclesiastical distinctions from that of papal chamberlain (1934) to the rank of bishop in 1951 and titular archbishop of Newport in 1969. For three less-than-happy years (1966–1969) he served as the sixth bishop of Rochester, N.Y.

Influence. Fulton Sheen's influence was unquestionably widespread: from groups of priests and members of religious orders and congregations to whom he frequently recommended a practice of his own life, namely, a daily hour of prayer, to vast audiences of lay persons, both Catholic and non-Catholic, to whom he brought a religious perspective on life and its meaning, as well as eloquent and forceful addresses on world problems such as the dangers of communism.

The present writer lived with Sheen for three years (1938–41) in his residence on Cathedral Avenue in Washington, where he was a daily observer of the dynamic churchman's notable generosity to those in need, and his unfailing consideration for and courtesy to those around him. It can be said that with the sole exception of a strain of vanity over his prowess as a public speaker it would be difficult to think of any serious defect in the man. And in this regard his extraordinary gift of a beautiful and compelling voice, a marked flair for the dramatic, along with normally well-reasoned content, humanly speaking, the vanity was understandable. The bishop was a man of deep conviction, and when he felt he was in the right he withstood all opposition, for example, in his difference with Cardinal Francis spellman, Archbishop of New York, over the disposition of the funds of the Society for the propagation of the faith.

As he once told me, he consciously abandoned the life of a scholar for that of the preacher, realizing in a realistic way that it was impossible to serve both simultaneously. All things considered, it was a wise decision, for there can be no doubt that Sheen possessed unique gifts for public address, gifts that were employed with telling effect as thousands of his immense audience would bear testimony.

It is owed to the memory of this remarkable churchman to state that in his hey-day almost literally millions called his name blessed for the religious inspiration, the kindling of renewed hope, and the spiritual enrichment that he brought to their lives.

Bibliography: Treasure in Clay. The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen (Garden City, N.Y. 1980). j. t. ellis, Catholic Bishops: A Memoir (Wilmington, Del. 1984) 78–84. k. riley, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen: An American Catholic Response to the Twentieth Century (Ph.D. diss., Notre Dame 1988). m. massa, Catholics and American Culture: Fulton Sheen, Dorothy Day, and the Notre Dame Football Team (New York 1999).

[j. t. ellis]