Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen 

A close personal Irish friend remembers 25 years on.

Fr. J. Linus Ryan, O. Carm.

I have so many vivid Irish memories of the saintly Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. 

It is 25 years (09-12-’79) since the Servant of God died and there will be two major celebrations in Ireland to mark the occasion.  The first will be an all-night Vigil (Dec. 7/8) concluding with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Michael Neary in a packed Knock Shrine Basilica and organised by our Irish +Fulton Sheen Apostolate for Atonement.  This ceremony will coincide with the special Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, in whose crypt Archbishop Sheen is interred, and will be offered by Bishop Daniel Jenky, Peoria, Illinois, Chairman of the Archbishop Sheen Foundation, which is officially promoting his Cause. His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, will preside. Our second major celebration will be in the Carmelite Terenure College Public Chapel, Dublin, where His Excellency, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzaroto, Papal Nuncio in Ireland, will celebrate a special Mass on Sunday December 19. His Excellency, Mr. James Kenny, United States Ambassador in Ireland will attend. 

Bishop Jenky, with the permission of the Holy See, formally introduced the Cause on the Feast of The Triumph of the Cross (14^th Sept. 2002). This has been in response to a groundswell of public opinion, which desires to see the Archbishop canonised. Accounts of favours attributed to his intercession have continued to reach the Foundation Office. 

He was a man of all the talents. Endowed with brilliant intellectual gifts, he had achieved the highest distinction both in philosophy and theology as a young priest. He was blessed also with remarkable communications gifts as a writer and preacher. Mainly through his radio talks, even before he reached the age of thirty, he had become America’s best-known priest. His ‘Catholic Hour’ broadcasts (1930-1952) ultimately reached an estimated listening audience of four million every Sunday afternoon. His greatest success in media came, however, when he went on television with his series ‘Life is Worth Living’ (1952-1957). He had an estimated viewing audience of thirty million people, which earned him an EMMY T.V. Award. During this time he was also doing a great deal of writing—64 books and 65 pamphlets, as well as two newspaper columns and a large amount of personal correspondence. One result of all this media ‘evangelisation’ was that he attracted large numbers of converts to the Catholic faith. 

His special bond of friendship with the Carmelite Order was sealed, when on July 17, 1948 the 53 year-old Fulton Sheen made his Profession as a member of the Carmelite Third Order. He was at that time Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC. County Wicklow born Most Rev. Kilian Lynch, O. Carm., Prior General of the Carmelite Order, received the Carmelite Third Order Profession of Fulton Sheen at a ceremony in the Carmelite House of Studies, White Friars Hall, Washington DC. Fr. Lynch had arrived in the United States from Rome to preside at the Provincial Chapter of the American Carmelite Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary and was assisted at the ceremony by Fr. Kilian J. Healy, O. Carm., Prior, and Fr. John Marcellus Scheuer, O. Carm., Prefect of Students and friend of Fulton. 

In his sermon, Fr. Lynch spoke of Our Lady’s care of the Carmelites throughout the ages, as well as the extraordinary priestly life of Fulton, working to spread devotion to Mary and her Son. Fulton Sheen had placed all his priestly work in the hands of Our Blessed Lady (The Woman I Love). 

It is important to recall his passionate love of Our Blessed Lady, and especially in this Year of the Eucharist, his legendary deep love for the Mass and the Eucharist. For sixty years he never missed (even once) a daily Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. His example has motivated thousands of priests and laity to do likewise. I recall entering the pulpit in Whitefriar Street, Dublin to collect some notes he had left behind after a particularly passionate and moving sermon he had given. I was stunned to see these little sheets of paper covered with large drops of perspiration. I felt a very strong urge to retain these pages and I still have them in my possession. 

Fulton Sheen moved to New York in 1950 to begin his 16-year tenure as Director of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith at the invitation of the U.S. Bishops. He was consecrated an Auxiliary Bishop of New York in Rome in 1951 by the Discalced Carmelite, Cardinal Piazza, and it was from this time that his worldwide success in media came when he went on television with his series Life is Worth Living. In fact, he was the first ever Tele-Evangelist. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester, N.Y., in 1966 and Titular Archbishop of Newport in 1969 by His Holiness, Pope Paul VI. 

His media popularity was a great asset, helping him to raise massive amounts of money, (including his own T.V. salary) for the support of the Church’s foreign missions. As he would often say “my greatest love has always been the missions of the Church”. Recordings of his T.V. shows continue to be shown around the world, mainly through EWTN, and are as relevant as ever. In fact many people would say that he was years ahead of his time. It is, however, above all, his personal holiness, which captured the imagination of most people. His preaching about Christ Crucified had all the hallmarks of one who was deeply in love with God. His positioning of a 7ft. high Crucifix on the wall opposite his bed was obviously meant to help him keep focused on the Crucified. One could not but notice how abstemious he was in matters of food. I recall his preaching of The Seven Last Words on Good Friday 1975 in our Church at Whitefriar Street, Dublin. He was eighty years old and he remained on his feet preaching and praying in the pulpit for three hours—from 12 noon to 3pm. 

In asking me to promote Archbishop Sheen’s Cause in Ireland, Bishop Jenky and Vice-Postulator, Fr. Andrew Apostoli CFR, were very conscious of Archbishop Sheen’s Irish family roots. His grandfather, Peter Sheen, was born in Limerick on the 13^th June, 1817 and his grandmother, Anne Roche-Fulton, was born in Croghan, Co. Roscommon. The Archbishop had a great affection for his Irish roots and visited Ireland frequently during his lifetime. It was my great privilege, as a Carmelite, to host him in Dublin, Ireland, at our Carmelite Church, Whitefriar Street on four special occasions over a six-year period: 

He was guest preacher on a number of special occasions. He is best remembered for his four preaching sessions to overflow congregations over a six-year period at the Carmelite Church, Whitefriar Street, Dublin. 

July 1969 = Nine days Solemn Novena for the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

1971 = The Seventh Centenary of the Carmelites coming to Ireland. On that occasion, his preaching was televised by Eurovision to 80 million people.

1973 = Ceremonies for the Centenary of the Birth of the Co-Patroness of the Missions, the Carmelite, St. Thérèse of Lisieux. 

1975 = Holy Week—on Good Friday, he was then 80 years old, he conducted (while standing for the three hours) the preaching of The Seven Last Words –  12 noon to 3 p.m. 

After his serious heart surgery (1978 and ’79) his health was a cause for great concern and he made arrangements that when he retired, he would be cared for by the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm in New York. His preference, of course, was to continue working for as long as possible at his own residence, praying, writing, giving spiritual direction, and instructing converts. I kept in constant touch with him at that time by letter and telephone. So, in fact, ‘America’s best known and best loved priest’ died ‘in harness’ in the odour of sanctity on December 9, 1979. His Cause of Canonisation was introduced with permission of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II by his native diocese of Peoria, Illinois on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross, September 14, 2002. 

He was, of course, the intimate friend of three Popes, Blessed Pope John XXIII; Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, and our present Holy Father. In fact, the present Holy Father, when embracing Archbishop Sheen in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on 2^nd Oct. 1979, said to him, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church” and later, when the Pope returned to Rome (15^th Oct.), in a special letter to him wrote, “God called you to proclaim in an extraordinary way His dynamic word. With great zeal you accepted this call and directed your many talents to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus in six decades of your priestly service God has touched the lives of millions of men and women of our time. They have listened to you on Radio, watched you on Television, profited from your many literary achievements and participated in spiritual Conferences conducted by you and so with St. Paul I thank my God whenever I think of you . . . remembering how you had helped to spread the Good News”. (Phil. 1: 3-4).