THE BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP FULTON SHEEN
- Apr 4
- 2 min read
It has been announced that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified on September 24th this year at St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside at the beatification and represent the Holy Father.
Fulton Sheen was born on May 8th, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois, to an Irish family. He felt his calling to the priesthood at the age of 24 and was ordained a priest in 1919. He continued his academic studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. After returning to the United States, he began teaching at the Catholic University of America in 1926, a position he held until 1950. From 1930 to 1950, he also hosted the evening radio program ‘The Catholic Hour’ on NBC, which quickly gained a large audience and was extraordinarily successful, leading many people to the Catholic faith.
A lecturer and brilliant speaker, he also hosted the weekly television series ‘Life is Worth Living’, which reached approximately 30 million viewers and earned him two Emmy Awards. From 1961 to 1967, he hosted ‘The Fulton Sheen Show’.
Fulton Sheen was an inspiration and a pioneer in bringing the Gospel to a wider audience through the new media. In his case, in the mid-twentieth century in America, the new media was Television. His style was charismatic, smart, engaging and convincing.
The Hook of Faith rejoices in the news of Fulton Sheen’s beatification because it is in that same spirit of evangelization using the new media that we try to share the Good News as a life-changing power. In the words of our mission statement:
“After Pentecost, the first Christians went out into the streets or wherever people gathered and preached a fundamental message in the power of the Holy Spirit – ‘Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and he is Lord. In him we know God loves us; he gave his life to save us and now he is living to enlighten, strengthen and free us. In him is eternal life and the forgiveness of sins. Repent and believe the Good News. Receive the gift of his Holy Spirit’.
‘The Hook of Faith’ seeks to continue this first proclamation of the Gospel because, in the words of Pope Francis, ‘it is the principal proclamation, the one which we must hear again and again in different ways, the one which we must announce one way or another at every level and moment’ (The Joy of the Gospel, 164).
The mission and content of ‘the Hook of Faith’ seeks to bring the power of the Gospel to a wide audience through the new media.
Above is a YouTube clip about the life of soon-to-be Blessed Fulton Sheen that gives you a flavour of his style and compelling power as a man of faith and gifted preacher of the Gospel. It is taken from his ‘Life is Worth Living’ Series.
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