Pope praises US radio and TV preacher Fulton Sheen as an inspiration ahead of his beatification

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, who grew up listening to popular American television preacher Archbishop Fulton Sheen, praised his fellow Illinois clergyman as an inspiration on Wednesday on the eve of Sheen’s beatification.

The American pope urged English-speaking pilgrims attending his general audience St. Peter’s Square to use Sheen’s example and find new ways of spreading the Christian faith “with joyful enthusiasm.”

Sheen, who died in 1979, was an enormously effective evangelist who in some ways pioneered televangelism with his 1950s television series, “Life is Worth Living.” Dressed in a cassock, cape and skullcap, he stood at a chalkboard and delivered moral and religious lessons into millions of U.S. households.

According to Catholic University of America, where he studied and taught before he was made a bishop, Sheen won an Emmy Award, was featured on the cover of Time Magazine “and became one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century.”

After a yearslong process, Sheen is to be beatified Thursday in St. Louis, Missouri, the first step in his path to possible sainthood. The Vatican’s top evangelization official, Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, is to celebrate the Mass.

“May the example and the intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work to the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the gospel message with joyful enthusiasm,” Leo said in English on Wednesday while noting the appointment.

The pope, formerly Robert Prevost, grew up in a deeply Catholic family in Chicago where the three sons all served as altar boys in church, their parents led nightly recitations of the Rosary and young Robert pretended to be a priest.

Leo said earlier this year that Sheen’s broadcasts also were part of the family’s faith formation. In a June 1 speech to directors of The Pontifical Mission Societies, which Sheen headed in the U.S. for 16 years, Leo noted his upcoming beatification.

“Archbishop Sheen was a beacon of faith, hope, and love who shone through radio and television for decades,” Leo said at the time. “I myself witnessed his evangelization efforts as I was growing up. His broadcasts reached millions of people with the hope of the Gospel, and his initiatives and efforts provided enormous spiritual and material support to the churches in areas of first evangelization.”

Pope Francis had originally confirmed a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession in 2019 and had set his beatification for Dec. 21 that year in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois. But with less than three weeks’ notice, the Vatican postponed the ceremony to investigate Sheen’s tenure as a bishop over concerns about how he handled priests accused of abuse.

The investigation turned up no wrongdoing. After a six-year delay, the Vatican in February gave the green light for Thursday’s beatification.

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