On Feb. 9, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified by the Catholic Church on Sept. 26 at the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis.
Sheen was internationally known in the mid-20th century as a television personality and evangelizer. He was born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895. Ordained a priest in 1919, Sheen showed great talent as a radio and television host. In 1930, he started a radio show, The Catholic Hour, which attracted millions of weekly listeners during its 20-year run.
His most significant evangelizing and apologetics work came with his nationally syndicated television show, Life Is Worth Living. The show ran from 1951 to 1957, covering religious and political topics. It was so successful that Sheen won a 1953 Emmy for “Most Outstanding Television Personality.”
Sheen was also a well-regarded author of religious works. He wrote over 20 books, including The World’s First Love. In 1953, the Marian Library awarded Sheen its first Marian Library Medal, honoring him for his moving reflections on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Upon receiving word of the award, Sheen wrote,
“I am deeply grateful for your decision, and for a tribute that delights my heart. May I receive this honor, as the window pane receives the rays of light, not to store them, but to let them pass through me, back again to God, the Giver of all gifts.”
Marian Library director Father Lawrence Monheim, S.M., presented the medal to Sheen in New York on July 16, 1953. In gratitude, Sheen gave the Marian Library a signed copy of The World’s First Love, which today resides in the Marian Library’s rare books collection and can be viewed upon request.
The Path to Beatification
Sheen’s cause for canonization opened in 2002. The miracle presented for Sheen’s beatification concerned the stillbirth of a baby boy, James Fulton Engstrom, in 2010 in Illinois. Immediately after birth, when the baby’s parents realized he was not breathing, they prayed to Sheen for his intercession with God, asking for their son’s recovery. James had no heartbeat for 61 minutes, but just before the doctors were going to declare him dead, his heart started beating. He continued to recover in the hospital for several weeks before going home, and he experienced no health issues stemming from the incident. This miracle was approved by the Vatican in 2014.
— Stephanie Shreffler is an associate professor and a religious collections librarian/archivist in the Marian Library.
