Last week, The Holy See announced the date for The Beatification of the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Coming on The Solemnity of The Annunciation, the announcement set the event for September 24, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri.
Sheen is recognized as a pioneer in the realm of media evangelization, in both radio and television. But he is best known for his Emmy-winning TV show, Life is Worth Living, which ran from 1952-1957, wherein he discussed general morality and Catholicism. As we celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary this year, it is also appropriate to note that the American Archbishop was a dauntless defender of the founding principles of this nation, in his spiritual and intellectual fight against Communism and Socialism.
At the height of his career, we were blessed to have Fulton Sheen grace the grounds of Belmont Abbey. On June 4, 1957, he delivered a commencement speech here, and was otherwise friends with some of the pillars of Belmont’s monastic community: Father Cuthbert Allen, Abbot Edmund McCaffrey, and Abbot Walter Coggin, who later would join Sheen as one of the Vatican Fathers.
It was the wit and wisdom of Fulton Sheen that people remember the most about him, delivered through his engaging personality, which was kind, compassionate, and inexorably driven by the transforming power of the love of Christ.
Of the many memorable and sapient words that he lavished upon the world, it would perhaps benefit us the most in our Lenten journey to reflect on his insightful quip regarding sin. “Sin,” he said, “consists in not desiring one thing too much but in desiring something other than the kingdom of God.”
So this Holy Week, let us pray in gratitude for the holy life of the soon-to-be Blessed Fulton Sheen and follow in his footsteps of imitating Christ, so that we may desire nothing other than the Kingdom of God.
NB: The two images featured here are from Sheen’s visit to Belmont on June 4, 1957. The photo is of Sheen at the lectern during the commencement ceremony in The Haid. The other image is of the 1957 Graduation Program bearing Sheen’s signature
Article by Br. Bede McKeon O.S.B.
