Born on May 8th of 1895 Peter “Fulton” John Sheen is one of the most recent canonized saint in the past century and well known for his exceptional speeches given through various medias. Fulton John Sheen has a forever mark on American Catholic History. He influenced American Catholicism through media channels that were never utilized before, he inveigled Vatican II on the missionary work and the anti-communism aspect, and lastly, he has shown the world, the United States especially, that you can still evangelize today and still make an impact on the Catholic Church today.
Fulton J. Sheen was born on May 8th of 1895 Fulton John Sheen was a teacher at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. When he started teaching many people recognized his natural ability to talk in front of crowds with ease and excellence. In 1930, he started a radio show named the “The Catholic Hour”. Millions of people instantly began to listen to the show. While on the radio he never had notes to himself or a plan of what he was going to talk about on the radio show. His radio show “The Catholic Hour” aired every Sunday night and it received easily over a million views a broadcast. Up until about 1952, he was broadcasting his radio show and connecting with over a million people each time. He then made a TV Show that was called “Life is Worth Living”. This show became an instant hit and on averaged got 5.5 million views a week. The TV Show ran successfully up until 1857. He then had another show called the “Fulton John Sheen Program” not nearly as popular as his previous tv show and radio broadcast but popular non-the least. Fulton John Sheen continued to preach through media channels up until his death.
While on the multiple media channels he evangelized and talked about the catholic church. Fulton John Sheen advocated for anti-communism and missionary work. He was very against communism and was very opinionated about the topic. In the book The Wit and Wisdom of Bishop Fulton John Sheen he states “The Communist believes in violence against his neighbor; the Christian believes in violence against himself- that is against his pride, his selfishness, his sinfulness, his hate, in a word, against those lower passions which would make him a Communist,” It is believed that he even called Hitler the anti-Christ. He had strong opinions on communism and even used his television show “to attract millions of viewers to his battle against communism,” (Religion, culture, and the Cold War: Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and America’s anti-communist crusade of the 1950s) . Fulton Sheen had a major view on communism and was very against it, “Sheen thus viewed communism as Satan’s answer to religion. It was an insidious ideology that attempted to create an ersatz religion to replace Christianity. In his view, communism could not be allowed to spread from the East into the West,” (Religion, culture, and the Cold War: Bishop Fulton J. Sheen and America’s anti-communist crusade of the 1950s ). Another thing Fulton John Sheen believed greatly in was Vatican II. He attended and wrote in his biography “calling his attendance at the general meetings and plenary sessions “one of the great blessings the Lord bestowed on my life” (p. 281). He has only words of effusive praise for the Council “that opened the Church to the world,” a point he repeatedly emphasizes,” (http://www.traditioninaction.org). In his life Fulton John Sheen was a big supporter of anti-communism and believed in Vatican II.
Fulton John Sheen became a priest first studying multiple places like the Catholic University of America and received his doctorate (PhD) in 1923 from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. After becoming a priest he went back to the Catholic University of America and taught there for about 20 years. In 1951 Fulton John Sheen was appointed Bishop in the Archdiocese of New York. Throughout his whole life he was known for his impeccable speeches about Catholicism and was always known for his evangelization. In 1967 he created the Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation, this helped people in need find affordable housing. He also was said to donate ten million dollars of his earnings to charity.
Fulton John Sheen has a forever mark on American Catholic History. He influenced American Catholicism through media channels that were never utilized before, he inveigled Vatican II on the missionary work and the anti-communism attribute, and lastly, he has shown the world, the United States especially, that you can still evangelize today and still make an impact on the Catholic Church today. Fulton John Sheen was a truly remarkable human and can be used as a role model for his missionary work and evangelization through media platforms. In conclusion, Fulton John Sheen has a big impact through the American Catholic Church.