Fulton Sheen

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois. He was the oldest of his parent's four sons. During his childhood, Fulton contracted tuberculosis. His family later moved to Peoria, Illinois where Sheen had his first role in the Church; he was an altar boy at St. Mary's Cathedral. After Sheen graduated high school in 1913, he attended school at St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, Illinois, where he attended Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota before he was ordained. He was ordained on September 20, 1919. He continued his studies at The Catholic University of America, which is located in Washington D.C. At The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, Sheen earned his doctorate in philosophy. While he was there, he became the only American to ever win the Cardinal Mercier award for the best philosophical treatise. He did so well on his exam, that during the dinner, Sheen had buckets full of champagne. In 1924, Sheen wanted to continue his studies, so he pursued his Sacred Theology Doctorate at the Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum. That later became known as the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.

At the beginning of his priestly life, Sheen was an assistant to the pastor at St. Patrick's Church, Soho Square in London for a year. While he was an assistant, he was teaching theology at St. Edmund's College, Ware. Here, he met Ronald Knox. Ronald Knox, who was a good friend of Sheen's, wanted him to teach philosophy at Oxford, along with Columbia. Sheen ended up at teaching philosophy at Catholic University. He taught there from 1926-1950. He began his radio ministry by speaking at St. Paul's Church in Manhattan. When the bishops of the United States wanted a national program, they chose him to ...

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... I think Archbishop Fulton Sheen should become a saint because he was a major role in the spread of Catholicism and anti-Communism. He has some official miracles that are credited to him, but others are still undergoing investigation. He played a major part in spreading Catholicism through his missions, but also on his radio and television shows. He also had the gift of prophecy and was able to see what was coming in the world. It almost seemed like he had a direct connection to God, and everything that he said seemed like God was saying it through him. Without him, all those little children would not be alive today if it were not for him praying for them. Archbishop Sheen seemed to touch a lot of people's lives during his own lifetime, and also after his death. I can tell that he had a deep influence on Father Apostali because of the way that he talked about him.