A Holy Man

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You may have heard that the United States has a new “almost-saint.” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was beatified on September 24 at a service in St. Louis. It was held there because the relatively small city of Peoria, Illinois couldn’t hold all the people who came! Have you ever heard the word televangelist? That phrase was invented for Fulton J. Sheen. Sheen was the first major religious figure to have a weekly TV show. He had already been a radio presenter, starting The Catholic Hour in 1928. In 1952 the DuMont Network gave the time, nicknamed “the obituary slot” (because it was opposite major hits…think of something on TV against the CBS line-up on Saturday nights in the 70s or NBC’s “must-see TV” on Thursday in the 80s), to Sheen. The program, Life Is Worth Living, became a surprise hit. A newspaper article said that DuMont received over 3,000 positive letters after the first episode aired. Here’s everything you need to know: Sheen beat out Lucille Ball for an Emmy Award. I’m not Catholic, but I will agree that Archbishop Sheen was a holy man. The visit to the museum honoring him in his hometown of Peoria just reinforced it. There was a quote from him near the entrance: “I don’t want my life to be mine. I want it to be Christ’s.” There were photos of him with orphans in far-away places (I thought of the contrast between that and megachurches that wouldn’t open their doors for a shelter after a hurricane). Oh, here’s something that may surprise you: most of the people who watched Life Is Worth Living were NOT Catholic. Sheen wasn’t preaching, “Hey, join my church.” He was preaching, “Hey, meet my God.” Sheen died in December 1979. He was found in his private chapel, where he prayed for an hour every day. In 2012 he was declared “Venerable,” the fist step to sainthood (or so I understand: please correct any of this that isn’t correct!). The second step came last month, when he was declared “Blessed.” That title is on his tomb, which is located in a side chapel in the cathedral in Peoria. I wish we had more examples of religious men like him who sought to serve God in everything. PHOTOS: (Left) Sheen’s tomb at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria (Right) Sheen on television in a display in the museum