Archbishop Fulton J Sheen: Convert Maker

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen was one of the greatest spiritual leaders—and entertainers—in America’s tumultuous twentieth century. His television shows, for which he eventually won an Emmy Award, reached millions of viewers, and in the 1950s and ‘60s, “Fulton Sheen” was a household name.

But his greatest gift was in finding lost sheep. Through his thought, wit, and compassion, many thousands of people likely entered the Church, from all walks of life. Among them were jazz legend Ada “Bricktop” Smith, journalist Heywood Broun, Communist activist Louis Budenz, U.S. Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce, spy Elizabeth Bentley, composer Fritz Kreisler, Communist Bella Dodd, and Hollywood starlet Virginia Mayo.

This in-depth work by historian Cheryl C. D. Hughes lets readers inhabit the postwar America where Bishop Fulton Sheen thrived, in order to reveal what made him such a magnetic figure in his own era. It peers into the complex lives of the celebrities and fallen stars who saw in the warm, brilliant bishop a sign of God’s grace, and it offers a study in the inner dynamics of conversion.

Sheen was far more than a speaker and a scholar. A priest and shepherd foremost, he firmly believed that the Church needed to be poor to serve the poor, personally donating all the money he ever earned—over $200 million—to mission services. He was also an active participant at the Second Vatican Council, where he befriended the young bishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyla, who had learned English, at least partially, from listening to recordings of Sheen. Pope John Paul II would later embrace Archbishop Sheen and say, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church.”

While Sheen influenced countless conversions, he was always clear that it was the Holy Spirit, not the man, who makes the convert. By examining this bishop’s ministry in action, we can catch a glimpse of how God works in the human heart, and in a fallen world.