The power of Sheen

More than 30 years after his death, Archbishop Sheen continues to influence America . . .

Robert Finan was just a toddler when Archbishop Fulton Sheen rocked the prime time television air waves during the 1950s by unabashedly proclaiming the Catholic faith.

Although the Jersey Shore Legate was too young at the time to absorb the archbishop’s eloquent teaching, he said he will always remember the black-and-white image of “the man with the cape” on Life Is Worth Living, which aired from 1951-1957.

Thirty years after Sheen’s death, Finan watches the archbishop on EWTN whenever he can. He also asks Sheen’s intercession daily for the Domestic Church Media, a Catholic radio outreach. Finan and Legates John Burgess, Tom Oswald, Sean Flanagan and Michael FitzPatrick serve on the organization’s board.

Influence

With Sheen’s cause for sainthood proceeding in Rome, more Catholics in the media are invoking the intercession of the man who pioneered Catholic radio and television ministry. Many of them — including Father John Corapi — frequently quote from Sheen’s talks and books.

Father Jonathan Morris, a Fox News Channel commentator, is one of the most visible Catholic priests on secular television today. He told Legatus Magazine that he asks for the archbishop’s intercession each day — and every time he goes on television.

As a seminarian studying homiletics, Fr. Morris said he watched videotapes of Sheen preaching and “took furious notes” on his style and content. He later learned more about Sheen’s influence from New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has a special devotion to Sheen.

“Archbishop Dolan’s love for the man and mission — and seeing him as a model — has inspired me to be closer to [Sheen] and to ask his intercession,” Fr. Morris said.

The New York archbishop recently told EWTN’s The World Over that he had watched Sheen on television, listened to his talks and even met him in person. But he especially became interested in Sheen while doing graduate work on the history of the Church in America.

“Without diluting the essentials of the faith, he was able to present it in an eminently attractive way,” Archbishop Dolan told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo. “That has always inspired me. I would never pretend to have his culture and bearing, but he’s an inspiration to me in trying to bring the immutable truths of our Catholic faith to a very changing culture and society.”

Archbishop Dolan’s weekly radio show and televised Masses are broadcast from St. Patrick’s Cathedral where Sheen is buried beneath the crypt of the high altar.

Legacy

Sheen’s intercession also has been invoked by Jim Manfredonia, president of Domestic Catholic Media, which plans to name the building housing its radio station the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Media Evangelization.

Manfredonia was inspired to ask for Sheen’s prayers for Domestic Catholic Media after receiving an Archbishop Sheen prayer card with Christmas greetings from Fr. Andrew Apostoli, vice postulator for Archbishop Sheen’s canonization cause.

With his radio and TV programs, Manfredonia said, Sheen set the tone for Catholic media today. “An archbishop of the Catholic Church with a primetime show is unheard of today. He really set the standard not just for Catholic programming, but religious programming.”

Father Apostoli, who was ordained by Sheen in 1967, said Life Is Worth Living initially aired on Tuesday evenings to meet a network obligation to provide a certain amount of religious content each week.

“That hour was considered a dead spot,” he said, because it was opposite Milton Berle, and the network figured no one would be watching a religious show at that hour. “After the first show they got 28,000 letters,” he said, “and within six months more people were watching him than Milton Berle.” The show eventually reached 30 million viewers per week.

In addition to his work in radio and television, Sheen was a prolific writer, producing 67 books. “He had the triple-pronged attack: radio, television broadcasts and books,” Fr. Apostoli said. “I hope he will be eligible to become a doctor of the Church. His output was magnificent.”

Sheen began his broadcast career on the radio in 1930 with The Catholic Hour, which ran for 22 years and reached an estimated four million listeners. From 1950-1966, Sheen served as national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and from 1962-1965, he attended all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

Father Apostoli said Sheen’s canonization is important to the life of the Church. “He very much was a spokesman for this time. We can’t let the voice of this great man go silent.”

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints opened Sheen’s cause for canonization in 2002, conferring on him the title “Servant of God.” Two alleged miracles attributed to his intercession were documented in 2006, and last year the diocesan portion of the process ended and the cause was officially opened in Rome.

Father Morris said that it wasn’t so much Sheen’s technique or even the information he imparted that cemented his legacy. “It was the deeply seated conviction about who he was, about who God was and about what the world needed that could only come forth from a deep life of prayer.

“He’s a model for us in these times to think big and to think different. He’s a model for us to meet the new challenges — and the new opportunities that exist to communicate the timeless gospel message.”

Judy Roberts is a Legatus Magazine staff writer.

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Fulton Joseph Sheen

Born: May 8, 1895, El Paso, Ill.

Priestly ordination: Sept. 20, 1919

Episcopal ordination: June 11, 1951

Named archbishop: Oct. 6, 1969

Television: Life is Worth Living, 1951-1957

Awards: Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy, University of Louvain, 1923.
Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, 1952

Taught: Catholic University of America, 1926-1950

National Director: Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 1950-1966

Second Vatican Council: Attended all sessions, 1962-1965

Died: Dec. 9, 1979

Cause: Opened Sept. 14, 2002, Diocese of Peoria, Ill.

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