On September 24, 2026, the Venerable Fulton Sheen was Beatified, one step closer to Sainthood. The Beatification Mass, celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, was attended by more than 50,000 people from every walk of life. It was a historic moment for American Catholics, as he is now the first American Bishop to be declared ‘Blessed.’
Beatification is the Church’s formal recognition that a man or woman lived a life of heroic virtue and now shares in the glory of heaven.
The investigation leading to the approval for his Beatification was accomplished by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, with input from medical experts, theologians, and local diocesan investigators. The final decision in this process, regarding the miracle attributed to his intercession, is ultimately made by the Pope. The case involved the life-saving healing of a newborn, James Fulton Egstrom, now 16 years old, who survived 61 minutes without oxygen or a heartbeat.
Blessed Fulton Sheen was a man of God who took his walk with Jesus to the next level. He was an example to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. During his tenure on radio, ‘The Catholic Hour,’ and television, ‘Life is Worth Living,’ many Americans invited him into their homes, over 30 million, on a weekly basis. He brought Apologetics back into the public venue.
His faith and conviction are the perfect example of a man who did not let the boundaries of this life keep him from doing the work that God had called him to. Through the grace of Almighty God, he evangelized and converted some of the hardest of hearts, one in particular, Bella Dodd. He did what he did with what he had, in the time of history God put him in.
His words, the writings he left behind will echo through the cosmos for all eternity. There is really nothing more I could say about Blessed Fulton Sheen that has not already been said throughout the years, so I will let his words speak for themselves.
Concerning the Church: “Who is going to save the Church? Do not look to the priests. Do not look to the bishops. It’s up to the laity to remind our PRIESTS to be PRIESTS and our BISHOPS to be BISHOPS.”
Concerning prayer: “Prayer begins with talking to God, but it ends by listening to Him. In the face of Absolute Truth, silence is the soul’s language.”
Concerning freedom: “Freedom does not mean the right to do whatever we please, but rather to do what we ought. The right to do whatever we please reduces freedom to a physical power and forgets that freedom is a moral power.”
Concerning morality: “Moral principles do not depend on majority vote. Wrong is wrong, even if everybody is wrong. Right is right, even if nobody is right.”
Concerning character: “Character is not revealed when life shows its best side, but when it shows its worst.”
Concerning dying to self: “When we die to something, something comes alive in us. If we die to self, charity comes alive; if we die to pride, service comes alive; if we die to lust, reverence for personality comes alive; if we die to anger, love comes alive.”
Concerning conviction: “The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
Concerning birth control: “The words are not very proper because those who believe in it actually believe neither in birth nor control.”
Concerning America: “America is said to be suffering from intolerance— it is not. It is suffering from tolerance. Tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos. Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded.”
Concerning women: “When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher the virtue, the more noble her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”
Concerning the devil: “Very few believe in the devil these days, which suits that devil very well. He is always helping circulate the news of his own death. The essence of God is existence, and He defines Himself as: ‘I Am.’ The essence of the devil is the lie, and he defines himself as: ‘I am who am not.’ Satan has very little trouble with those who do not believe in him; they are already on his side.”
Concerning pride: “Pride is the king of vices… it is first of the pallbearers of the soul… other vices destroy their opposite virtues, as wantonness destroys chastity; greed destroys temperance; anger destroys gentleness; but pride destroys all virtues.”
These are but a few of his quotes. I pray that these will lead you to a deeper desire to learn more of who Fulton Sheen was and, more importantly, what he has to teach us and how it affects us in this time in history.
He authored approximately 73 books. Here is a list of his best-known and widely read books to date:
- Life of Christ
- Go to Heaven
- The World’s First Love
- Peace of Soul
- Three to Get Married
- Treasure in Clay
- The Life is Worth Living series
Live your Life worthy of HIS Sacrifice +
God Bless you +
Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us +
