For those of you who don't know who Archbishop Fulton Sheen was, he was a very public personality for the Catholic Church. Archbishop Sheen was a great communicator and preacher for Christ.
He had a weekly radio broadcast called "The Catholic Hour" from 1930-1952. He actually won an Emmy for his television show, "Life is Worth Living" (1952-1957). He was off and on television from 1961-1968.
It was said that if Fulton Sheen was not a priest, he would have been America's greatest Shakespearian actor. His charisma and presence was indeed powerful.
He was the only person to ever give Milton Berle a run for his money as the most popular television show of the time. When asked why that was Berle said, "He has better writers."
Sheen said, "I thank my writers...Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."
Why, oh why am I going on about Archbishop Sheen? Because for lent I am reading his book "The Life of Christ". It is an overview of the gospels with theological commentary by Sheen. A few of my posts with be based on my Lenten reading, so I wanted to introduce the Archbishop to those who may not know him.
The real strength of Fulton Sheen is threefold:
1) Strong but accessible theology
2) Great charisma
3) He never forgot that he was doing everything for Christ
Offical site for his cause for sainthood (link)
I personally think Archbishop Sheen was a wonderful example of how to use modern media for Christ.
1 comment:
You can still watch Fulton Sheen's TV shows on EWTN every week! I met him once at a studio where I worked. He was very tall, and I'm 6'1"! My wife, Marianne, went to one of his last public orations at St. Agnes church in Manhatten. The city named the street after him. It was wonderful to know a living saint, may he be beatified soon!
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