Fulton J. Sheen

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Fulton John Sheen
Archbishop's coat of arms (from 1969)

Fulton John Sheen , actually Peter John Sheen (born May 8, 1895 in El Paso , Illinois , † December 9, 1979 ) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the United States and one of the most influential Christian US media personalities in the 20th century.

Life

Sheen grew up in his family as the eldest of four other brothers. His parents ran a farm. Although his original first name was Peter, he used his mother's maiden name, Fulton, as a first name from childhood. Sheen was ordained a priest on September 20, 1919 in Peoria .

He became a professor of philosophy in Washington.

On May 28, 1951 he was by Pope Pius XII. Appointed Titular Bishop of Caesariana and Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of New York . He received his episcopal consecration on June 11, 1951, the secretary of the Consistorial Congregation , Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza OCD ; Co- consecrators were the Curia Bishop and later secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization Leone Giovanni Battista Nigris and Archbishop Martin John O'Connor , then President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications .

On October 21, 1966 he was by the Pope Paul VI. appointed Bishop of Rochester . In 1969 he gave up the office of diocesan bishop again and was appointed titular archbishop of Newport . He then worked in the Archdiocese of New York until his death in 1979.

Act

Fulton J. Sheen was a very prolific author, but also early on used the new media of radio and television for preaching purposes. From 1930 he directed a weekly radio show called The Catholic Hour . From 1951 he also worked on television and thus became one of the first "television preachers". For the DuMont Television Network and later for ABC he hosted the weekly magazine Life Is Worth Living , in which he gave half-hour lectures on a life or belief topic. In 1952 he was awarded an Emmy for this. From 1961 to 1968 he directed a similar show called The Fulton Sheen Program . A German translation of his radio sermons was published in 1951 under the title Peace without question marks .

personality

Bishop Sheen was one of the most well-known figures of the Catholic Church in the USA through his television broadcasts in the 1950s and 1960s. The youthful-looking man with the penetrating look and the expressive voice managed to bring even complex theological topics closer to a large audience with understandable words, lots of humor, but also drama. Sheen was extremely well educated and followed the current trends in literature, art and philosophy. He often quoted poems in his lectures and sermons and referred to non-Christian authors and philosophers.

Voices to Sheen

Beatification process

The process for the beatification of Fulton Sheen was opened on September 29, 2003 by the Diocese of Peoria . The diocesan process was completed in 2008 and the documents were brought to Rome, where on April 15, 2008 the beatification process began. On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI. attested Fulton Sheen's heroic degree of virtue and thus officially opened the beatification process. In June 2014, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognized the healing of a newborn baby as a miracle by Sheen's intercession. As part of the beatification process, his remains were transferred from New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral to Peoria Cathedral in June 2019. On July 6, 2019, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to Sheen's intercession as the final requirement for beatification.

The beatification should have taken place on December 21, 2019 in Peoria Cathedral, where Fulton Sheen was ordained. On December 3, 2019, Bishop Daniel Robert Jenky surprisingly announced to CSC of Peoria that the beatification had been postponed indefinitely.

Fonts (selection)

  • Philosophy of religion. The impact of modern knowledge on religion. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York 1948.
  • Communism and the conscience of the western world. More publishing house, Berlin 1950.
  • Peace without a question mark. Pustet, Regensburg 1951.
  • Life is worth living. Television sermons. Kerle, Heidelberg 1956.
  • Treasure in Clay. The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen. Doubleday & Company, Garden City 1980, ISBN 0-385-15985-4 .
  • The worry rainbow. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2003, ISBN 978-3-8311-3358-1 .

literature

  • Thomas C. Reeves: America's Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen. Encounter Books 2001, ISBN 1-893554-25-2 .
  • Kathleen L. Riley: Fulton J. Sheen: An American Catholic Response to the Twentieth Century. Alba House 2004, ISBN 0-8189-0915-3 .
  • Alkuin Volker Schachenmayr : radio and television bishop. On the work of Bishop Fulton Sheen. In: Vobiscum (February 2010), pp. 10-17.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fulton Sheen Biography and Inspiration. The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, accessed June 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Sheen Gems: The Best of Fulton J. Sheen DVD. In: catholicvideo.com. Retrieved June 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Sheen Cause Begins. The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, archived from the original on July 26, 2008 ; accessed on June 28, 2019 (English).
  4. ↑ Fulton Sheen awarded Heroic Virtue Degree. In: Zenit . ZG12062903, June 29, 2012, accessed July 11, 2012 . Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In: Vatican Information Service VIS . June 28, 2012, accessed July 11, 2012 . No. 128, June 28, 2012; Retrieved July 11, 2012
  5. ↑ Petra Lorleberg: Vatican recognizes miracles by Bishop Fulton Sheen. In: kath.net . June 18, 2014, accessed June 18, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Dispute over Archbishop Sheen's remains settled. In: kathisch.de . June 28, 2019, accessed June 29, 2019 .
  7. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , July 6, 2019, accessed July 9, 2019 (Italian).
  8. ^ Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen ( English ) Sheen Foundation. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  9. ↑ Press release of the Diocese of Peoria: Postponement of Beatification , December 3, 2019, accessed on December 5, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Sheen, Fulton John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sheen, Fulton J .; Sheen, Peter John (original name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American bishop, presenter, author
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH El Paso , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH December 9, 1979