Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? This is a quote by the American Roman Catholic Archbishop Fulton Sheen. He was one of the most visible Catholics of 1950s whose preaching was famous in radio and television. In fact, he is regarded as the first televangelist who brought church to 30 million American living rooms.
Sheen was born Fulton John Sheen in May 1895 in Illinois, Chicago. In Peoria, Illinois he served as an altar boy and years later he would be ordained into priesthood there. He attended local schools for his basic education then proceeded to Catholic University of America to further his studies in Philosophy.
Sheen proceeded to Belgium where he got a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven. Moreover, while there he won the Cardinal Mercier award for his philosophical work and became the first American to do so. After several years of service as a priest he was consecrated a bishop serving in New York.
Fulton began his media evangelism in 1930 through a Sunday night radio broadcast weekly. It was around the time for World War II which he associated with not a theological struggle. It was during this time that he conducted the first service ever to be conducted on new media that was radio and television. His television program became so popular that he won an Emmy Award.
Controversy was also part of era of Archbishop Fulton. In 1953, in his program he publicly denounced the leadership of Soviet which was led by Joseph Stalin. He dramatized the episode using the burial scene of Julius Caesar of the Shakespeare fame. He predicted doom to Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet saying that they would indeed face judgment. People were shocked when Stalin died in the same week as a result of stroke.
A cardiac condition claimed the life of Fulton in 1979. The remains were buried in a crypt in New York at St. Patricks cathedral where he served. In 2002, his cause for canonization was begun and resulted in servant of God title for him. Ten years later, his journey toward beatification was started by approval of the Vatican through granting him the title of Venerable.
Before one is considered for beatification, they have to have performed a miracle. The event that is defined to be a miracle should be beyond the explanation of science or nature. In the case of Sheen, he is said to have healed a baby boy who was declared stillborn after missing a pulse for 61 minutes. The mother of infant is said to have interceded to Fulton. The infant survived with no impairments and the case proved beyond scientific explanation by a Vatican medical team.
Another similar miracle is necessary for him to be canonized as a saint. The process of beatification and canonization of Sheen has however been stopped indefinitely. This is because his remains have to be transported to his home church in Peoria. It is the hope of all his fans that the man who brought Catholicism to the living rooms of so many American homes is eventually canonized.
Sheen was born Fulton John Sheen in May 1895 in Illinois, Chicago. In Peoria, Illinois he served as an altar boy and years later he would be ordained into priesthood there. He attended local schools for his basic education then proceeded to Catholic University of America to further his studies in Philosophy.
Sheen proceeded to Belgium where he got a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven. Moreover, while there he won the Cardinal Mercier award for his philosophical work and became the first American to do so. After several years of service as a priest he was consecrated a bishop serving in New York.
Fulton began his media evangelism in 1930 through a Sunday night radio broadcast weekly. It was around the time for World War II which he associated with not a theological struggle. It was during this time that he conducted the first service ever to be conducted on new media that was radio and television. His television program became so popular that he won an Emmy Award.
Controversy was also part of era of Archbishop Fulton. In 1953, in his program he publicly denounced the leadership of Soviet which was led by Joseph Stalin. He dramatized the episode using the burial scene of Julius Caesar of the Shakespeare fame. He predicted doom to Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet saying that they would indeed face judgment. People were shocked when Stalin died in the same week as a result of stroke.
A cardiac condition claimed the life of Fulton in 1979. The remains were buried in a crypt in New York at St. Patricks cathedral where he served. In 2002, his cause for canonization was begun and resulted in servant of God title for him. Ten years later, his journey toward beatification was started by approval of the Vatican through granting him the title of Venerable.
Before one is considered for beatification, they have to have performed a miracle. The event that is defined to be a miracle should be beyond the explanation of science or nature. In the case of Sheen, he is said to have healed a baby boy who was declared stillborn after missing a pulse for 61 minutes. The mother of infant is said to have interceded to Fulton. The infant survived with no impairments and the case proved beyond scientific explanation by a Vatican medical team.
Another similar miracle is necessary for him to be canonized as a saint. The process of beatification and canonization of Sheen has however been stopped indefinitely. This is because his remains have to be transported to his home church in Peoria. It is the hope of all his fans that the man who brought Catholicism to the living rooms of so many American homes is eventually canonized.
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