Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love? The above is a popular quote by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Sheen is an American Roman Catholic archbishop whose fame in preaching on TV and radio precede him. Seen as the first ever televangelist, his programs brought Catholicism to more than 30 million American households.
In May 1895, Sheen was given birth to and named Fulton John Sheen in Illinois. The family later moved to Peoria where Fulton attended mass in a local church and in fact became an altar boy there. In the same church, he was ordained into priesthood years later. He went to schools around his home area for his basic education.
After his degree, he went for his doctorate in philosophy in Belgium at the University of Leuven. While there, he became the first American to win the Cardinal Mercier prize an award seeking to recognize contribution to International Philosophy. After serving in different regions, he was ordained a bishop in New York.
Fulton began evangelism through mass media in 1930. His first show was known as Catholic Hour broadcast on radio every week on Sundays. It was right in the middle of World War II and he took advantage of the platform to preach against the war. Besides, he conducted the first ever church service on mass media. The popularity of his program among viewers won him an Emmy award.
Controversy was also part of era of Archbishop Fulton. In 1953, in his program he publicly denounced the leadership of Soviet which was led by Joseph Stalin. He dramatized the episode using the burial scene of Julius Caesar of the Shakespeare fame. He predicted doom to Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet saying that they would indeed face judgment. People were shocked when Stalin died in the same week as a result of stroke.
Fulton died of cardiac diseases in 1979 after an open heart surgery. His remains were buried at St. Patricks cathedral in New York which has since been the cause of his delayed canonization. His cause for canonization began in 2002 where he earned the title Servant of God. In 2012, the Vatican began his path to beatification by recognizing the heroic virtue that has characterized the life of Sheen and therefore earned him the title of Venerable.
Performing a miracle is one of the prerequisite for beatification. The miracle ought to be an event that cannot be explained by any scientific techniques. For Sheen, a mother to an infant who had delivered a still born baby boy claims to have prayed to him to heal his boy. Despite the fact that the boy was in that state for 61 minutes and doctors had failed to resuscitate him, he survived and does not bear any physical or mental impairment. This case was proven to be a miracle indeed by a specialized medical team from Vatican.
The infant miracle has brought the Sheen beatification journey into its final stages conferring to him the title blessed. Coincidentally, this is an important journey towards canonization. The present challenge is to have his remains examined at his home church in Peoria and the tussle with the church in New York has continuously delayed the process. All his followers can hope for is an eventual canonization.
In May 1895, Sheen was given birth to and named Fulton John Sheen in Illinois. The family later moved to Peoria where Fulton attended mass in a local church and in fact became an altar boy there. In the same church, he was ordained into priesthood years later. He went to schools around his home area for his basic education.
After his degree, he went for his doctorate in philosophy in Belgium at the University of Leuven. While there, he became the first American to win the Cardinal Mercier prize an award seeking to recognize contribution to International Philosophy. After serving in different regions, he was ordained a bishop in New York.
Fulton began evangelism through mass media in 1930. His first show was known as Catholic Hour broadcast on radio every week on Sundays. It was right in the middle of World War II and he took advantage of the platform to preach against the war. Besides, he conducted the first ever church service on mass media. The popularity of his program among viewers won him an Emmy award.
Controversy was also part of era of Archbishop Fulton. In 1953, in his program he publicly denounced the leadership of Soviet which was led by Joseph Stalin. He dramatized the episode using the burial scene of Julius Caesar of the Shakespeare fame. He predicted doom to Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet saying that they would indeed face judgment. People were shocked when Stalin died in the same week as a result of stroke.
Fulton died of cardiac diseases in 1979 after an open heart surgery. His remains were buried at St. Patricks cathedral in New York which has since been the cause of his delayed canonization. His cause for canonization began in 2002 where he earned the title Servant of God. In 2012, the Vatican began his path to beatification by recognizing the heroic virtue that has characterized the life of Sheen and therefore earned him the title of Venerable.
Performing a miracle is one of the prerequisite for beatification. The miracle ought to be an event that cannot be explained by any scientific techniques. For Sheen, a mother to an infant who had delivered a still born baby boy claims to have prayed to him to heal his boy. Despite the fact that the boy was in that state for 61 minutes and doctors had failed to resuscitate him, he survived and does not bear any physical or mental impairment. This case was proven to be a miracle indeed by a specialized medical team from Vatican.
The infant miracle has brought the Sheen beatification journey into its final stages conferring to him the title blessed. Coincidentally, this is an important journey towards canonization. The present challenge is to have his remains examined at his home church in Peoria and the tussle with the church in New York has continuously delayed the process. All his followers can hope for is an eventual canonization.
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