Fulton J. Sheen

While he was an infant, he contracted tuberculosis.

He suffered from heart problems, for which he underwent surgery at the Lenox Hill Hospital. He passed away at the age of 84 due to heart problems. He was laid to rest at the St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Materials like his papers and TV programmes are kept at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, New York

He was born as Peter John Sheen in El Paso, Illinois to Newton and Delia Sheen. He had three siblings and he was the eldest. He was later baptised as Peter John Sheen.

When his family relocated to Peoria, Illinois, he took part in a church activity for the first time in his life. He was assigned the role of an altar boy at St. Mary's Cathedral.

He attended the Spalding Institute in Peoria, from where he received high school valedictorian honours in 1913. He later attended the St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and the Saint Paul Seminary in Minnesota.

On September 20, 1919, he received his ordination. Subsequently, he went on to pursue his higher education at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

In 1923, he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. There he became the first American recipient of the Cardinal Mercier award, which was conferred upon him for his philosophical treatise.

He served as an assistant pastor at the St. Patrick's Church, Soho Square in London. At the same time, he was also teaching theology at St. Edmund's College, Ware.

In 1925, he published his book titled, 'God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy', which was a critical Study in the Light of the Philosophy of Saint Thomas.

In 1926, he was ordered by Bishop Edmund Dunne of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, to serve at St. Patrick's Parish. After nine months, he began to teach philosophy at Catholic University.

In 1929, he delivered a talk at the National Catholic Educational Association, where he stressed on the fact that education was necessary for Catholic Renaissance in the U.S.

In 1930, he started ‘The Catholic Hour’, which was a radio show that was broadcast every Sunday night. On the show he once referred to Adolf Hitler as ‘anti-Christ’.

In 1952, he received the Emmy Award for the category of ‘Most Outstanding Television Personality'.