Blessed Fulton Sheen

Peter John Sheen was born in 1895 in El Paso, Illinois, and raised in a devout Catholic family - as a boy he was known affectionately as "Uncle Fultie." After studies in Rome, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria and went on to further study in Washington and at the University of Louvain in Belgium, one of Europe's great centers of philosophy.

He became a professor, a prolific author, and above all a preacher - first to the nation over radio's The Catholic Hour, beginning in 1930, and then to a television audience no religious broadcaster had reached before. In 1966 Pope Paul VI appointed him Bishop of Rochester, New York; he resigned the diocese three years later and continued his public ministry until his death in December 1979. He was buried in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York; in 2019 his remains were brought home to Peoria, the diocese that had shepherded his cause.

Life Is Worth Living aired from 1952 to 1957 and drew millions of viewers every week - an audience that cut across denominations in an era when television was new and its rules unwritten. Sheen's props were a blackboard and a piece of chalk; his method was humor, story, and a scholar's clarity worn lightly. In 1953 he won the Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Personality, accepting it with a nod to his "writers" - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The day before the beatification, Pope Leo XIV held up exactly this legacy at the Wednesday General Audience: "May the example and intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work through the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the Gospel message with joyful enthusiasm."

The Church's process moved in documented steps. In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI recognized his heroic virtue and declared him Venerable. In 2019 Pope Francis authorized the decree recognizing a miracle through his intercession: the revival of James Fulton Engstrom, stillborn in 2010, whose recovery after prayer for Sheen's intercession had no medical explanation the Church's examiners could find. That recognition cleared him for beatification.

On September 24, 2026, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided at the beatification Mass in The Dome at America's Center in Saint Louis, Missouri, and proclaimed Pope Leo XIV's apostolic letter declaring him Blessed. Organizers put attendance near 50,000, with some 90 bishops and a thousand priests concelebrating. James Fulton Engstrom himself, now a teenager, carried Sheen's relic - his jawbone, chosen to honor the gifts of the preacher - in the procession.

Beatification is the Church's formal judgment that a person is in heaven and may be venerated - with the title Blessed - ordinarily within particular places or communities. Canonization, which makes someone a saint of the universal Church, is a further step that ordinarily requires a second miracle after beatification. The same honesty this site keeps between a healing recorded at Annaya and one formally recognized by the Church applies here: Fulton Sheen is Blessed, his cause for canonization is ongoing, and calling him a saint today would simply be wrong.

What beatification does do is propose him as a model and intercessor - above all for everyone who works in media, teaches, or preaches: proof that the new means of communication can carry the old Gospel without losing it.

The Fulton Sheen Foundation maintains the official video and audio library - hundreds of talks, full episodes of Life Is Worth Living, and his recorded retreats - at fultonsheen.com/full-video-audio-library. If one talk here stays with you, that is the door to the rest.

Is Fulton Sheen a saint?

Not yet. He was beatified on September 24, 2026, and carries the title Blessed. Canonization - becoming a saint of the universal Church - ordinarily requires a second miracle recognized after beatification. His cause is ongoing.

When and where was he beatified?

On September 24, 2026, in The Dome at America's Center in Saint Louis, Missouri. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presided, representing Pope Leo XIV, before a crowd organizers estimated near 50,000.

What miracle was recognized for his beatification?

The revival of James Fulton Engstrom, stillborn in 2010, after his family prayed for Sheen's intercession. Pope Francis authorized the decree recognizing the miracle in 2019; Engstrom carried Sheen's relic in the beatification procession.

Why is he called the media bishop?

He preached on national radio from 1930 and on television's Life Is Worth Living from 1952 to 1957, reaching millions weekly and winning an Emmy in 1953. Pope Leo XIV praised this media apostolate at the General Audience the day before the beatification.

Where can I watch his talks?

Five short talks are embedded above, and the official archive - full episodes and hundreds of recordings - is at the Fulton Sheen Foundation's video and audio library (fultonsheen.com).

Where is he buried?

His remains rest in Peoria, Illinois, his home diocese, after being transferred there from St Patrick's Cathedral in New York in 2019.

• Vatican News (September 23, 2026): Pope Leo upholds Fulton Sheen's legacy ahead of beatification - the General Audience tribute, the Saint Louis venue, and the life dates
• Catholic Register / OSV News (September 24, 2026): Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen declared 'Blessed' at beatification Mass in St. Louis - the declaration, attendance, the Engstrom miracle, and the relic
• Vatican News (March 25, 2026): Venerable Fulton Sheen to be beatified in St. Louis on 24 September - the 2012 Venerable declaration and the 2019 miracle decree
• Fulton Sheen Foundation: the official full video and audio library - where to hear his complete talks