Fulton John Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, on May 8, 1895. He was the eldest son of a humble farming family. His involvement with the Catholic church began at an early age, serving as an altar boy.

One of the first remarkable events of his life occurred when he was eight years old. He was serving Mass and dropped and broke a wine cruet during the Mass; afterward, while helping to clean up, Bishop John L. Spalding told the frightened boy he would one day study at Louvain in Belgium and would eventually become a bishop himself — a striking foreshadowing of the life ahead of him. Sheen was ordained a priest on September 20, 1919, after studies at St. Viator College and Saint Paul Seminary, and went on to earn advanced degrees in philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

For 23 years, Sheen taught at the Catholic University of America, becoming known as a gifted scholar, orator, and evangelist who authored dozens of books. His preaching soon reached far beyond the classroom: from 1930 to 1950, his weekly radio addresses on “The Catholic Hour” brought Catholic teaching to a national audience, and in 1951 he launched the television program Life Is Worth Living, which reached an estimated 30 million viewers weekly and earned him an Emmy Award, making him one of the most influential Catholic figures of the century. He is credited with leading many well-known converts to the faith and raised enormous sums for Catholic missions as head of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

One of Sheen’s favorite life experiences occurred on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his two grand-nephews. He was near the Sea of Galilee, meditating on the poignant conversation between Christ and St. Peter after Christ’s resurrection. A passing shepherd who happened to walk by came up to Sheen and placed a lamb in his arms. The photograph seen below from the Blessed Fulton Sheen Archives is said to be the favorite of his life. He is quoted as describing the moment as “an unworthy shepherd holding a precious lamb in his arms.”

Central to Sheen’s life was his devotion to the Holy Hour of Eucharistic adoration, a practice he began in seminary and maintained without fail from his ordination until the day of his death, December 9, 1979, when he died in the chapel of his residence. He described this practice in his autobiography as being like “an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit” amid the troubles of the world.

His cause for canonization opened in 2002, and Pope Benedict XVI declared him “Venerable” in 2012 after recognizing his heroic virtue. A miracle attributed to his intercession, the survival of an infant, James Fulton Engstrom, was approved in 2014, clearing the way for beatification, though the ceremony was delayed for years pending further review of his time as Bishop of Rochester.

That long-awaited beatification finally takes place today, September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, at a beatification Mass at which Sheen will formally receive the title “Blessed.”

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_^Citations:

_{^{“Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979).” The Catholic University of America, 2026, fulton-sheen.catholic.edu.}}

_{^{Kassien, Troy. “The Unknown Fulton Sheen: Philosopher of Education.” Church Life Journal, 20 Sept. 2019, churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-philosophy-education-of-archbishop-fulton-j-sheen/.}}