Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? This is one of the most popular quotes from Archbishop Fulton Sheen, an American catholic bishop who is known for his television and radio preaching. Regarded as the first televangelist ever, his show was able to reach up to 30 million viewers.
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.
Later, Sheen proceeded to the Catholic University of American in Washington to study Philosophy. He got a doctorate in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. It was during his stay that he was awarded the Cardinal Mercier prize, an award that rewards recipients for their contribution to Philosophy. Later, he left to begin service as a bishop 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.
Archbishop Fulton was not short of controversy. Probably one of his most remembered episodes was in 1953 when he denounced publicly the reign of Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Using the burial scene from the Shakespeare play of Julius Caesar, he predicted doom to Stalin and other Soviet leaders. Shocking enough, a few days later Stalin suffered a stroke which killed him within the same week.
Fulton faced his death as a result of a heart condition having undergone an open heart surgery in 1979. He was buried in a crypt in the cathedral he served in New York which is to blame for his delayed journey to his sainthood. Cause for canonization was begun in the year 2002 and was granted the Servant of God title. A decade later, the Vatican approved the journey towards his beatification by bestowing him the title of Venerable.
To be considered for beatification, one has to have performed a miracle. The miracle needs to be something that nature or science cannot explain. For Archbishop Fulton, he was prayed to by the mother of an infant who had been declared still born after lack of a pulse for around one hour. The boy survived without any physical or mental problems. A team of Vatican medical experts have proved that this was indeed a miracle, since there was no medical explanation for it. The decision to give Sheen the title blessed is in the final stages.
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.
Later, Sheen proceeded to the Catholic University of American in Washington to study Philosophy. He got a doctorate in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. It was during his stay that he was awarded the Cardinal Mercier prize, an award that rewards recipients for their contribution to Philosophy. Later, he left to begin service as a bishop 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.
Archbishop Fulton was not short of controversy. Probably one of his most remembered episodes was in 1953 when he denounced publicly the reign of Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Using the burial scene from the Shakespeare play of Julius Caesar, he predicted doom to Stalin and other Soviet leaders. Shocking enough, a few days later Stalin suffered a stroke which killed him within the same week.
Fulton faced his death as a result of a heart condition having undergone an open heart surgery in 1979. He was buried in a crypt in the cathedral he served in New York which is to blame for his delayed journey to his sainthood. Cause for canonization was begun in the year 2002 and was granted the Servant of God title. A decade later, the Vatican approved the journey towards his beatification by bestowing him the title of Venerable.
To be considered for beatification, one has to have performed a miracle. The miracle needs to be something that nature or science cannot explain. For Archbishop Fulton, he was prayed to by the mother of an infant who had been declared still born after lack of a pulse for around one hour. The boy survived without any physical or mental problems. A team of Vatican medical experts have proved that this was indeed a miracle, since there was no medical explanation for it. The decision to give Sheen the title blessed is in the final stages.
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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