Ordained a priest in 1919, Sheen would be the first seminary alum to be beatified
Briefly:
- Renowned Catholic media personality and Saint Paul Seminary alumnus Archbishop Fulton Sheen will soon be declared Blessed by the Vatican, one step from sainthood.
- Sheen brought the faith into millions of homes becoming one of the most influential Catholic voices of the 20th century.
- Sheen’s lifelong devotion to Eucharistic adoration and evangelization began during his formation at The Saint Paul Seminary, where he discerned his vocation and adopted a daily holy hour.
One of the most recognizable Catholic figures of the American media age is officially on the path to sainthood and set to become The Saint Paul Seminary’s first beatified alumnus.
The Vatican announced that Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who attended The Saint Paul Seminary before his 1919 ordination, will be beatified on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Beatification is the third of four formal stages in the Church’s process for canonization, a declaration that the individual is in heaven and worthy of public veneration.
“This is a joyful moment for the seminary community and the broader Church,” said Fr. Joseph Taphorn, rector of The Saint Paul Seminary. “Through the enduring legacy of Archbishop Sheen’s ministry, Christ continues to reach souls across generations. We’re honored to say that Blessed Sheen walked our halls, prayed in our chapel, and began discerning his priestly mission right here.”
Born in 1895 in El Paso, Illinois, Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria after his years at The Saint Paul Seminary. It was during his time in St. Paul that he began the practice of a daily Holy Hour of Eucharistic adoration, a devotion he maintained for more than 60 years and often credited for the fruitfulness of his ministry.
“The big chapel in [The Saint Paul] Seminary would be locked by six o’clock … [one] particular evening during recreation, I walked up and down outside the closed major chapel for almost an hour,” Sheen wrote in his autobiography, part of a chapter called, “The Hour That Makes My Day.” “The thought struck me — why not make a Holy Hour of adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament? The next day I began, and the practice is now well over sixty years old.”
It was also before the Blessed Sacrament that Sheen died on Dec. 9, 1979. By that time, he had written more than 70 books, won an Emmy Award, and brought the Catholic faith into millions of American homes through decades of radio and television broadcasting.
Converting the masses
Long before fellow seminary alum Fr. Mike Schmitz reached millions through YouTube, or Bishop Robert Barron (whose seminarians are formed at The Saint Paul Seminary) launched Word on Fire, Fulton Sheen was breaking ground as a Catholic communicator.
He offered spiritual direction and moral reflection first on NBC’s nighttime radio program “The Catholic Hour,” and later through widely-watched television series such as, “Life Is Worth Living” and “The Fulton Sheen Program.”
Sheen opened each episode with phrases like “Peace be to you,” and ended with his signature blessing: “God love you.” At the height of his popularity, his charisma and message captivated the American public.
Even “if he came out in a barrel and read the telephone book, [viewers would] love him,” a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York told Time magazine in a 1952 profile.
Sheen served as auxiliary bishop of New York (1951–1966), bishop of Rochester (1966–1969), and national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (beginning in 1950). He also personally accompanied more than 1,000 converts into the Catholic Church, among them public figures such as Henry Ford II, Clare Boothe Luce, and Jo Mielziner.
Upon receiving his 1952 Emmy Award for “Most Outstanding Television Personality,” Sheen quipped, “I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”
Today, many of Sheen’s talks continue to inspire on platforms like YouTube, where they’ve accumulated tens of thousands of views.
‘The priest is not his own’
Among Sheen’s 73 published titles is The Priest is Not His Own in which he examines the priesthood and priestly formation through the lens of a man’s configuration to Jesus Christ.
It’s something he learned firsthand during his time at The Saint Paul Seminary.
“The thought struck me — why not make a Holy Hour of adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament? The next day I began, and the practice is now well over sixty years old.” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen
Sheen’s cause for canonization was officially opened in 2002. In 2019, Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to him: the 2010 unexpected recovery of a stillborn baby after the boy’s parents prayed for Sheen’s intercession.
As Sheen’s beatification brings him closer to sainthood, he could soon become the first canonized saint from The Saint Paul Seminary.
“Archbishop Sheen’s journey began in prayer and led him to evangelize millions,” Taphorn said. “That’s the kind of witness we hope to form here every day: leaders whose lives are rooted in prayer and sent forth to proclaim the Gospel, whether to a single parish or an entire nation.”