America's Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen PDF
Preview America's Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen
Also by Thomas C.Reeves Freedom and the Foundation: The Fund for the Republic in the Era ofMcCarthyism (ed.)Foundations Under Fire (ed.)McCarthyism Gentleman Boss: The Life ofChester Alan Arthur The Life and Times ofJoe McCarthy: A Biography (ed.)John F.Kennedy: The Man,the Politician,the President A Question ofCharacter: A Life ofJohn F.Kennedy (ed.)James Lloyd Breck,Apostle ofthe Wilderness The Empty Church: The Suicide ofLiberal Christianity Twentieth-Century America: A BriefHistory America’s Bishop The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen thomas c. reeves Encounter Books San Francisco Copyright © by Thomas C.Reeves All rights reserved,EncounterBooks,Third Street,San Francisco, California . First edition published in by Encounter Books,an activity ofEncounterfor Culture and Education,Inc.,a nonprofit tax exempt corporation. Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reeves,Thomas C.,– America\rquote s bishop :the life and times ofFulton J.Sheen / Thomas C. Reeves. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN --- . Sheen,Fulton J.(Fulton John),‒. . Catholic Church—United States—Bishops—Biography. I. Title. BX.SR '.—dc For John C.Kubeck Contents Introduction 1 one A Successor ofthe Apostles 9 two The Taste ofChampagne 39 three A Catholic Philosopher for the New Age 60 four Battle Lines 95 five The Loss ofGod,the Beginning ofTyranny 126 six Reaching Out 163 seven Global Thinking 197 eight The Television Man ofthe Year 223 nine Backed up Against the Cross 251 ten Exile 291 eleven Frail Defender 328 Author’s Note 363 Acknowledgments 372 AppendixA Sheen Publications 374 AppendixB Hints for Presenting a Talk 381 Notes 383 Interviews 464 Index 465 vii Introduction A s the twentieth century wound to a close,there was spec- ulation about who had been the greatest,the most pop- ular, the most significant, and the most influential Catholics of the preceding hundred years.In a poll taken by the Internet Catholic Daily,with 23,455people casting ballots,the top four Catholics ofthe century were Pope John Paul II,Mother Teresa, Blessed Padre Pio,and Archbishop Fulton J.Sheen.1TheCatholic Almanac for the year 2000, published by Our Sunday Visitor, described Sheen as “perhaps the most popular and socially influ- ential American Catholic ofthe 20th century.”2 A strong case can be made for the accuracy ofthese evaluations. In the first place,Sheen was the best and most popular public speaker in the Church.Millions,in the United States and around the world, listened to his Catholic Hourradio programs from 1930to 1952,and millions received printed copies of these talks.Journalist Gladys Baker observed that in 1949,Sheen was “the name priest in Amer- ica,”adding that “By members ofall faiths,Monsignor Sheen is con- ceded to be the most electric orator of our times.”3In 1979,Billy Graham called Sheen “one of the greatest preachers of this cen- tury.”4In 1983,the noted Catholic historian John Tracy Ellis labeled him “the twentieth century’s most famous Catholic preacher.”5 When Sheen went on television in February 1952,his Life Is Worth Livingprograms became extremely popular,competing effectively against shows starring “Mr.Television”Milton Berle and singer- actor Frank Sinatra.A television critic remarked,“Bishop Sheen can’t sing,can’t dance,and can’t act.All he is ...is sensational.”6In ix x America’s Bishop his first year on television,Sheen won the Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality,beating out media giants Lucille Ball,Arthur Godfrey,Edward R.Murrow,and Jimmy Durante.He was on the cover ofTimemagazine.The following year,the bishop was featured on the covers ofTV Guide,Colliers,andLook.A jour- nalist remarked,“No Catholic bishop has burst on the world with such power as Sheen wields since long before the Protestant Refor- mation.”7By early 1955,the Sheen programs were reaching 5.5mil- lion households a week.8Between 1952and1956,according to the Gallup poll,Sheen was one ofthe nation’s ten most admired men.9 No record can be made ofthe thousands ofsermons,speeches, and retreats Sheen gave over the decades,often to huge audiences. When he was scheduled to preach at St.Patrick’s Cathedral in New York,6,000people regularly packed the church.On Easter Sunday, 1941,7,500worshippers were jammed into the cathedral,while 800 waited outside,hoping for a chance to get in.On Good Friday, Sheen’s sermons were broadcast outdoors to the thousands stand- ing outside St.Patrick’s.“For three hours,”a journalist wrote,“the heart ofManhattan’s most congested midtown area became a minia- ture St.Peter’s Square.The phenomenon is repeated for the evening service.”10Many ofSheen’s television shows,sermons,and speeches are still available on videocassette and tape. In addition to establishing himself as a philosopher and the- ologian,Sheen was one of the American Church’s most prolific writers.Over a period of 54years he authored 66books and pub- lished62booklets,pamphlets,and printed radio talks.The num- ber ofhis readers can only be imagined.A single radio talk of1934 was in its eleventh edition in 1948,a printing of 54,000 copies.11 Sheen wrote countless magazine and newspaper articles,and numer- ous book introductions and chapters.12In the early 1950s he was writing two regular newspaper columns;his syndicated column in the secular press ran for thirty years.He also edited two magazines, one for sixteen years. Sheen’s expertise encompassed a wide variety of topics,from Aristotle,Augustine,and Thomas Aquinas to Karl Marx,Sigmund
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