Sunday evenings in my Irish-Catholic childhood home meant one thing only: the family gathered around the radio in the living room (with a cup of warm, milky tea in hand), listening to reruns of Archbishop Fulton Sheen\u2019s show, \u201cThe Catholic Hour\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often think that my own vocation to work in the field of Catholic communications began right then and there. So, you can imagine how excited I am to know he will be beatified on September 24th<\/sup> in St. Louis, Missouri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To call Archbishop Sheen a communications personality would be an understatement. He was a media phenomenon. He wrote books, recorded hundreds of radio programs, hosted dozens of TV shows and, at a time in the United States when Catholics were viewed with either suspicion or contempt, he succeeded in touching the minds and hearts of millions of people \u2013 Catholic and non-Catholic alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the early 1950\u2019s, ten years before JFK was elected America\u2019s first Catholic President. Television, for those who could afford a TV set, was still a novelty. Yet, here was a priest presenting his own prime-time show, running head-to-head on air with one hosted by super-star, Frank Sinatra, and beating him in the ratings. In 1953, Fulton Sheen made media history when he received an Emmy Award as the Most Outstanding Personality of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name of his show, \u201cLife\u2019s Worth Living\u201d, might have had something to do with the fact it attracted up to 10 million viewers every week. But its success really revolved around Fulton Sheen\u2019s unique and spell-binding personality. He was a university professor with an academic background in philosophy. He was also fluent in both French and Latin. Yet, he was able to capture and hold his audience\u2019s attention, offering answers to some of life\u2019s biggest questions in a language that was accessible to anyone and everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His \u201cstraight-to-the-camera\u201d and \u201ctell-it-like-it-is\u201d style of delivery was decades ahead of today\u2019s YouTubers\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n FULTON SHEEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow that Bishop! - The Story of Venerable Fulton Sheen\u2019s Public Ministry - Relevant Radio+ 6:21\u201326:43)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell. I hope this hasn\u2019t been a sad story for you. I hope not to spread anything but<\/em> I\u2019m a little sad because I have to leave you. But to you I say, by<\/em>e<\/em> now, God bless you!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Archbishop Fulton Sheen\u2019s popularity with his television audience wasn\u2019t always shared by his brother bishops. Some members of the Catholic Church hierarchy, including the Archbishop of New York, disapproved of his success, fearing their moral authority might be diminished by Sheen\u2019s immense influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They needn\u2019t have worried. Fulton Sheen was first and foremost a man of God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n FULTON SHEEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow that Bishop! - The Story of Venerable Fulton Sheen\u2019s Public Ministry - Relevant Radio+ <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/em>Every day since my ordination, I have spent an uninterrupted hour in prayer in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is where I find strength; that is where I receive light. That is where I discovered the joy and beauty of my priesthood.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I speak personally when I say that Fulton Sheen is a ready-made role model for today\u2019s Catholic communicators, YouTubers or not. And, starting this September, he will be the first Blessed in the history of the Church to be raised to the altars with an Emmy Award (like this one) in his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, and, of course, Rome Reports will be right there to cover the celebration in St. Louis, Missouri\u2026 so stay tuned!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday evenings in my Irish-Catholic childhood home meant one thing only: the family gathered around the radio in the living room (with a cup of warm, milky tea in hand), listening to reruns of Archbishop Fulton Sheen\u2019s show, \u201cThe Catholic Hour\u201d. I often think that my own vocation to work in the field of Catholic communications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":93945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qv9etzXKUt0","video_descarga":"","international_url":"","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93949"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93949"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93967,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93949\/revisions\/93967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}