Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Beatification: By The Numbers
By: The Good Newsroom
As Sheen nears beatification, a look at the numbers behind his life, ministry, and legacy
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history, will be beatified on Thursday, Sept. 22. As pilgrims make their way to St. Louis, where the beatification Mass will be celebrated, The Good Newsroom looks at the statistics and figures that will bring Archbishop Sheen’s work, and this week’s event, to life.
8,500: Letters received per week from viewers at the height of “Life Is Worth Living,” Sheen’s prime-time television program.
6,000: Letters received per week from listeners of “The Catholic Hour,” his earlier NBC radio program.
30 million: Estimated weekly viewers of “Life Is Worth Living” at its peak, roughly one in five Americans at the time.
169: Television stations that carried “Life Is Worth Living,” reportedly more than any other regularly scheduled DuMont Network program.
3 to 15: The jump in stations airing the show within its first two months on air, after a feature in Life and Time magazines.
22: Years Sheen hosted “The Catholic Hour” on radio, from 1930 to 1952.
1953: Year Sheen won an Emmy Award for most outstanding television personality, beating out Lucille Ball and journalist Edward R. Murrow.
73: Books written by Sheen over his lifetime, by some counts; the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation cites more than 50 published works.
1919: Year Sheen was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria.
1951: Year Sheen was consecrated a bishop and named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York.
15: Years Sheen served as auxiliary bishop of New York, from 1951 to 1966.
3: Years Sheen served as bishop of Rochester, from 1966 to 1969.
84: Sheen’s age at death; he was born May 8, 1895, and died Dec. 9, 1979.
2002: Year the Diocese of Peoria formally opened Sheen’s cause for canonization.
22: Volumes of testimony and evidence sent to the Vatican in 2008, closing the cause’s diocesan phase.
2012: Year Pope Benedict XVI declared Sheen venerable.
24: Years between the opening of Sheen’s cause in 2002 and his beatification in 2026.
12,000: Seating capacity of the largest available venue in Peoria, Illinois, too small for the crowd that organizers expect.
67,000: Reported capacity of the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, the venue that will host the beatification Mass.
112,000: Approximate population of the city of Peoria