Posted on 07/20/2026 7:17:02 AM PDT by Cronos
As the Church prepares to beatify Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on Sept. 24 in St. Louis, Bishop Robert Barron said the beloved archbishop’s legacy extends far beyond his groundbreaking media ministry.
In a July 17 interview on “EWTN News In Depth,” Barron said Sheen’s enduring influence was rooted in decades of prayer, intellectual formation, and faithful preaching — a model he said he believes Catholic evangelists need now more than ever.
The Church’s recognition follows years of investigation into Sheen’s life of heroic virtue and the Vatican’s approval of a miracle attributed to his intercession. During his priesthood, Sheen became known for proclaiming the Gospel through preaching, writing, radio, and television.
Evangelization built on formation
In the “EWTN News In Depth” interview with anchor Catherine Hadro, Barron, of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said Sheen’s example offers timely lessons for Catholics seeking to evangelize in today’s digital media landscape.
While technology has made it easier than ever for individuals to become online personalities, Barron said authentic evangelization requires much more than a social media platform or podcast.
According to Barron, Sheen’s extraordinary effectiveness in radio and television ministry was rooted in decades of intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral formation.
Before becoming one of America’s best-known Catholic communicators, Sheen devoted years to seminary formation, graduate studies at The Catholic University of America, and doctoral studies at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. His preaching reflected a lifelong engagement with sacred Scripture and the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, G.K. Chesterton, and St. John Henry Newman.
“He begins his evangelical work only after a long apprenticeship as a teacher, as a writer, as a student,” Barron said. “Fulton Sheen had an extremely rich academic formation. Seminary, Catholic University, and the advanced doctorate at Louvain.”
For Barron, Sheen demonstrates that lasting evangelization is built upon disciplined study and prayer before public ministry.
“I want you to use the old medium of books,” Barron said. “Read and read and read before you dream of getting in front of the microphone.”
A warning for Catholic communicators
Barron said today’s media environment presents opportunities for evangelization but also significant challenges.
“A lot of people just put a shingle on and say, ‘I’m a Catholic spokesman,’” he said.
Without sufficient theological, philosophical, and spiritual formation, Barron warned, Catholic communicators can unintentionally misrepresent the faith.
“I think Sheen would be bothered by that,” he said.
Rather than seeking influence first, Barron encouraged aspiring Catholic communicators to imitate Sheen’s commitment to study, prayer, and fidelity to the Church before entering public ministry.
A life to imitate
Throughout the interview, Barron pointed to five enduring characteristics of Sheen’s life that remain relevant for Catholics today: daily prayer, serious intellectual formation, Christ-centered preaching, personal humility, and joyful evangelization.
Those qualities, Barron said, explain why Sheen’s witness continues to resonate decades after his death and why his influence extends well beyond his pioneering work in television.
Barron concluded by responding to comparisons often made between himself and Sheen. Although both men are Illinois natives, graduates of The Catholic University of America, and widely known for their use of media in evangelization, Barron humbly dismissed it.
“It embarrasses me because I’m much unworthy of a comparison,” Barron said. “He is the greatest preacher in the history of our country.”
Historic beatification
Sheen’s beatification is expected to draw thousands of bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and lay faithful from across the United States and around the world. Pilgrims are planning to travel to St. Louis not only to witness the historic celebration but also to give thanks for the enduring impact of Sheen’s ministry.
As interest in Sheen continues to grow ahead of his beatification, Catholic leaders are organizing events examining his legacy. On Sept. 23, the Fulton Sheen Institute will host the conference “America’s Saint: The Catholic Hour is Now” in St. Louis, bringing together scholars, clergy, and evangelists to discuss Sheen’s relevance for the Church and American culture.
“This conference will rally the voices of American Catholics who championed Sheen when his cause was buried,” said Peter Howard, founder and president of the Fulton Sheen Institute and Fulton Sheen Movement. “At a time marked by confusion, fragmentation, and a crisis of identity, Sheen’s message cuts through the noise with conviction and clarity.”
The book meticulously traces Jesus’ journey from the Nativity through His public ministry, teachings, parables, and confrontations with the religious and political authorities.
God bless, Fulton Sheen! I love watching his stuff. He understood the coming woke world WAY WAY back.
A few years ago I emailed his website inquiring when that event had been. A couple weeks later they emailed me back, saying their records don’t go back that far.
I do remember that my Mom was a big fan of his, she had some of his books.
I can’t help but wonder what Bishop Sheen would think of the current state of the Church.
I have watched a few of his videos. It is long past the time he should have been canonized a Saint.
*****
His words were (and still are) prophetic.
Thanks for posting this!
The beatification should have happened years ago.
He was far too Catholic for today’s church bureaucracy.
Billy Graham’s appearance on What’s My Line is also worth watching. VERY entertaining but it might make you a little sad. That was DEFINITELY television that would never be produced today (the host talking about Graham’s delivering the gospel to communist countries etc.)
The nuns that taught me would never allow a misplace adverbial phrase to appear in a Catholic publication’s headline.
Imagine a show like Sheen’s getting any views today (though he would probably have a successful podcast if he was still around)
A couple was grieving the still born birth of their child in 2010 and prayed to Bishop Sheen. Within 61 minutes the baby revived in perfect condition.
He would be excommunicated for being an actual Catholic.
He was also a Teilhardian. How is that conservative?
Barron is one of those infuriating people who believes every "miracle" in the "new testament" literally happened while Genesis is mythology because "that's not how the world works."
*****
It would be refreshing!
To your points - Fulton Sheen never became a "hippie." Sheen never compromised on Catholic moral, dogmatic, or liturgical orthodoxy. He continuously preached traditional piety, Eucharistic adoration, and repentance from sin throughout the 1960s and until his death in 1979.
And calling Sheen a "Teilhardian" implies that Sheen subscribed to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's unorthodox or controversial theological/evolutionary system. This is false. Sheen did praise certain poetic and cosmic aspects of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's writings regarding the Incarnation (specifically predicting in his 1966 book Footprints in a Darkened Forest that Teilhard’s scientific-mystical vocabulary would eventually be understood in a orthodox sense).
Archbishop Sheen was a world-class philosopher whose doctoral degree from Louvain was built on the strict Thomism of St. Thomas Aquinas. He consistently critiqued pantheism, modernism, and relativistic philosophy. Citing a thinker favorably in one specific context does not make someone a follower or disciple of that thinker.
I would strongly advise you, ZC, to read Summa theologae by Thomas Aquinas - you are reducing a complex, holy Catholic prelate to modern political labels. Fulton Sheen was neither a modern political "conservative" nor a 1960s "hippie"—he was simply a faithful, orthodox Catholic bishop whose allegiance was to Jesus Christ
Zionist - realize that Jesus Christ is Lord, God and Savior
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