WOF 535: Bishop Barron on Bishop Fulton Sheen

Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. The faithful recently rejoiced at the news that Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the great American evangelist who lived from 1895 to 1979, has moved forward in the canonization process. The Vatican recently announced that he will soon be beatified, which is one step away from being declared a saint. This is an especially happy development for Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, which, as an apostolate dedicated to evangelization, has a special devotion to Archbishop Sheen; in fact, his portrait hangs just beyond the studio doors where we are recording this show, next to our other patrons, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Pope St. John Paul II. Looking back, what kind of enduring impact has Fulton Sheen had on evangelization and the Church? Looking forward, what can we continue to learn from him today, especially given the fact that the evangelical landscape has so drastically changed, both culturally and technologically, since Sheen's time? Here to celebrate Sheen's legacy, and how the great communicator continues to shape Word on Fire's own evangelical mission, is Bishop Robert Barron.

Topics Covered

00:00 | Introduction

01:22 | Winona-Rochester's confirmation season

02:19 | What is beatification?

04:44 | Who was Fulton Sheen?

07:15 | Sheen's theology of the Church as mystical body of Christ

11:38 | Sheen's theology of grace

15:10 | The quiet influence of Fulton Sheen in Bishop Barron's life

20:44 | The Pivotal Players: Fulton Sheen

21:59 | Examining Sheen's universal appeal

26:22 | Fulton Sheen and social media