“I am worried about America! I am not so much worried about its politics and economics, important though they be: I am worried about its soul. After all, politics and economics are determined by the sense of values which underlies them.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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- The Most Rev. Fulton J. Sheen & Pope Pius XII
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- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and Pope Paul VI
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- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen & Pope John Paul II
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- St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota
By Hook & By Crook
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Today is the anniversary of Fulton J. Sheen who was consecrated Bishop in Rome by Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza in the Church of Sts. John & Paul on June 11, 1951. Sheen was named by Pope Pius XII as titular Bishop of Caeseropolis (Caesariana).
Saint Paul wrote: “It is an honorable ambition to aspire to be a Bishop.” Sheen reflected that in the early days many bishops became martyrs, and it was a much more uncomfortable post of leadership than it is today.
Bishop Kelly of Oklahoma City asked Msgr. Fulton Sheen for permission to submit his name to Rome as a bishop. Sheen asked for a few days to think it over and then wrote: “There are two ways in which one advances in the Church. One is by a push from below, the other is by a gift from above.”
He explained by a push from below he meant influence or intercession by another. By a gift from above he meant an appointment by the Holy See under inspiration of the Holy Spirit and without the influence of men. He wrote in his letter to Bishop Kelly that since his invitation was a push from below and not a gift from above he would have to refuse.
Archbishop Quinn of San Francisco who was formerly the Bishop of Oklahoma told Sheen that he saw that letter in the files of the diocese. Sheen later learned that his being named Bishop was through the good graces of Cardinal Spellman.
“What does it mean to be a bishop? When Our Blessed Lord first called Peter and the other Apostles to Himself, He said that from now on they would catch souls instead of fish. Whether or not a promotion in the Church increases the ability to fill nets is another matter. Statistics do not prove that one can catch more fish seated on the bank dressed in purple than when dressed in black. Rather, it would seem that the responsibility increases because a fisherman uses only a hook, but a bishop uses a crosier, or a crook. That means that he is to increase Christ’s fold whether they be fish or lambs, ‘by hook and by crook.’”
—Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Papal Artifacts’ Collection is primarily dedicated to artifacts connected to the papacy. Individual popes, their biographies and multiple items belonging to them, including first and second class relics, make up the majority of this Collection. But that isn’t all it is.
Father Kunst has a deep devotion to the saints as can be readily seen in viewing the Saints & Blesseds section of this site. We invite you to visit Papal History/Saints & Blesseds to view the many canonized and beatified men and women who make up this section of the Collection.
Another category is also included with this Collection: Notable Individuals. These are people significantly associated with the Catholic Church who have not been canonized but contributed in outstanding ways to the church. At present Venerable Fulton Sheen is one of them, and the day will come when he will be beatified.
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- 47-Page Program of the Installation of Fulton J. Sheen
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- 47-Page Program of the Installation of Fulton J. Sheen
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- Letter From Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Signed and Dated, 1967
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- Fulton Sheen: Two Tickets to the Lecture, The Signs of Our Times, in 1946
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- +Fulton Sheen: This Is Rome
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- +Fulton Sheen: This Is Rome, Inscribed & Signed
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- +Fulton Sheen, Life Is Worth Living
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- +Fulton Sheen, Life Is Worth Living, Inscribed & Signed
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- First Edition of Go To Heaven, Signed
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- First Edition of Go To Heaven, Signed
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- Fulton Sheen Letter to Pat Morison Apr 28, 1953
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- Fulton Sheen Envelope, Reverse
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- Fulton Sheen Letter to Pat Morison, Hand Written
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- Fulton Sheen Envelope to Hand Written Letter
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- Fulton Sheen Letter of June 16, 1952
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
If you want people to stay as they are, tell them what they want to hear. If you want to improve them, tell them what they should know.–Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
A Message from the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen is dear to the hearts of the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where Sheen was enrolled from 1917 to 1919, before he was ordained on September 20, 1919 for the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois.
A 1946 alumnus of the Seminary related the discipline of seminary life in the early to mid-1900s: Seminary life is slightly different depending on the customs of the times. When Sheen was in seminary, they wanted to know if you were strong enough. Did you have a good sense of the direction you were going? Were you ready to make some sacrifices for it? Those were real questions, so they tested you for it.
At that time a total of twelve years of preparation for the priesthood was spent throughout high school, college and major seminary.
As a most esteemed alumnus, Archbishop Sheen occasionally went back to visit the seminary and he enjoyed stopping to say hello and renew his own earliest years preparing for priesthood. He always had a soft spot for The Saint Paul Seminary and let everyone know it. As he said, it was his foothold.
When he visited he would talk about what his goals were and how he was trying to get the word of God clearly, firmly and fairly to people.
Archbishop Sheen is remembered as a man of God, both gracious and determined. You could tell he was a person of great faith by the way he handled the subject. He made it very clear where he stood and that he was there to help others, a rhythm that went through everything he did. He gave very generously of himself and taught by example that you give yourself wholeheartedly–you don’t put conditions on your gifts.
Papal Artifacts is honored to remember Fulton J. Sheen on the anniversary of his appointment as auxiliary bishop of New York. Please take the time to read his biography and to watch this youTube episode from his Emmy award winning series, Life Is Worth Living. Additionally, the internet is filled with these episodes that warmed and instructed the hearts of the faithful from 1951 to 1957.
Before that, he hosted a radio program, The Catholic Hour from 1930-1950.
The Papal Artifacts’ Collection is primarily dedicated to artifacts connected to the papacy. Individual popes, their biographies and multiple items belonging to them, including first and second class relics, make up the majority of this Collection. But that isn’t all it is.
Father Kunst has a deep devotion to the saints as can be readily seen in viewing the Saints & Blesseds section of this site. We invite you to visit Papal History/Saints & Blesseds to view the many canonized and beatified men and women who make up this section of the Collection.
Another category is also included with this Collection: Notable Individuals. These are people significantly associated with the Catholic Church who have not been canonized but contributed in outstanding ways to the church.
Archbishop Fullton J. Sheen is one of the Notable Individuals and very dear to the heart of the Curator, Father Richard Kunst.
Any effort made to further his cause for canonization is a welcome occurrence!
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The Archdiocese of New York will work to help transfer the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a spokesman for the archdiocese told CNA Saturday. The decision is the conclusion of a long legal battle over the late archbishop’s burial place.
“We have been informed that the New York Court of Appeals has denied further appeal of the New York Supreme Court decision upholding Joan Cunningham’s petition to disinter Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s mortal remains from under the altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where they have rested for nearly 40 years,” Joseph Zwilling, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, told CNA.
The denial of the archdiocese’s appeal to keep Sheen’s remains in New York was delivered by the New York Court of Appeals on Friday, June 7.
“While we did not initiate this matter, the Trustees of St. Patrick’s and the Archdiocese believed that it was not simply their duty, but a solemn obligation, to seek to uphold Archbishop Sheen’s last wishes, as directed in his Will, to be buried in New York – a position held until recently by Joan Cunningham herself,” Zwilling said.
Cunningham is Sheen’s niece and closest living relative. Cunningham has said in the past that although her uncle’s will states that his wish was to be buried in New York, she believes he would have wanted to have been interred in Peoria if he knew it would help advance his cause for sainthood.
The Peoria diocese opened the cause for Sheen’s canonization (the process to become an officially recognized saint in the Catholic Church) in 2002, after Archdiocese of New York said it would not explore the case. In 2012, Benedict XVI recognized the heroic virtues of the archbishop.
In September 2014, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria suspended Sheen’s cause on the grounds that the Holy See expected Sheen’s remains to be in the Peoria diocese.
In 2016, Cunningham filed a legal complaint seeking to have her uncle’s remains moved to the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria.
The Archdiocese of New York has repeatedly appealed the attempt to transfer Sheen’s remains to Peoria, arguing that Vatican officials have said the Peoria diocese can pursue Sheen’s canonization regardless of whether his body is buried there.
Archbishop Sheen was a beloved television catechist during the 1950s and 60s in the United States. Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois at the age of 24, and was appointed auxiliary bishop of New York in 1951, where he remained until his appointment as Bishop of Rochester, New York in 1966. He retired in 1969 and moved back to New York City until his death in 1979.
On June 8, the Archdiocese of New York confirmed to CNA their cooperation in the transfer Sheen’s remains.
“In light of the court’s denial of further appeal, the Trustees of St. Patrick and the Archdiocese will work cooperatively with Mrs. Cunningham and the Diocese of Peoria to arrange for the respectful transfer of Archbishop Sheen’s mortal remains.”
