Archbishop Fulton Sheen: A ‘master of modern media’
Amid the noise of our media-driven world, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, reflects on what Archbishop Fulton Sheen called “the most important conversation in a human life”—the one that takes place “in the depths of the heart.”
In 1979, Pope John Paul II embraced Archbishop Sheen at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City (Photo – Supplied)
By Bishop Louis Tylka*
We live in an age of extraordinary communication. The devices we carry give us access to more information than previous generations could have imagined. At almost any moment, from almost anywhere in the world, we can reach another person, receive breaking news, and watch events unfold thousands of miles away.
And yet, for all this connection, many people today feel profoundly disconnected.
We are surrounded by voices and struggle to hear one another. We consume an endless stream of information, opinions and images, yet find ourselves searching for meaning. Technology promises community, but can create echo chambers in which we hear only those who already think as we do. Furthermore, without physical human interaction, the communal sense created leaves a person hungering for genuine connections. Instead of drawing us together, our methods of communication can deepen division, anxiety and loneliness.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen understood that the most important conversation in a human life takes place in the depths of the heart. It is one reason his voice remains so compelling today.
Archbishop Sheen was a master of modern media in his own era. He understood radio and television and used them with remarkable effectiveness. He entered millions of homes through The Catholic Hour and Life Is Worth Living. Standing before the cameras with his blackboard and episcopal regalia, he spoke about God, human nature, love, suffering, freedom, marriage, temptation and eternity.
What distinguished Archbishop Sheen was more than his command of these new media; it was that he knew what he wanted to communicate. He believed that beneath our ambitions, fears, distractions and sins is a human heart made for God. He observed that “nothing ever happens in the world that does not happen first inside human hearts.” That conviction ran throughout his preaching and writing.
For Archbishop Sheen, the interior life was not an escape from the world. It was where the Christian learned how to enter the world truthfully. This is an important distinction for our time. The digital world constantly invites us outward: What is happening? What is trending? What are people saying? Who agrees with me? Who is against me? What should I fear? What should I desire next? The Gospel asks different questions: Who am I before God? Whom am I called to love? Where do I need conversion? What is Christ asking of me? These questions require something increasingly difficult to find: silence.
Archbishop Sheen’s public ministry was rooted in this kind of interior encounter with Christ. For decades, he maintained the practice of a daily Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. The man who spoke to millions first learned to be silent before God.
There is something deeply instructive in that for all of us, particularly those entrusted with communicating the Gospel today. Before we speak, we must listen. Before we post, we must pray. Before we seek to influence others, we must allow Christ to convert our own hearts. Archbishop Sheen understood that evangelization is more than the transmission of religious information. It is an invitation into a relationship with Jesus Christ and, through Him, with one another.
As Bishop of Peoria, I am profoundly grateful that the Church will soon number Archbishop Sheen among the Blessed. On Sep 24, 2026, he will be beatified in St Louis, Missouri in an extraordinary moment of grace for our local Church, for the Church in the United States and, I believe, for the universal Church.
Earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV beautifully described Archbishop Sheen as “a light of faith, hope, and love” whose radio and television ministry touched millions with the hope of the Gospel. The Holy Father added a remarkable personal testimony: “I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up.” That testimony reminds us that we do not always know where a word spoken in faith will travel or what fruit it may bear.
Decades after Sheen stood before a television camera, his voice continues to reach new generations. His talks now circulate through digital platforms that did not exist during his lifetime. Young people encounter him online and discover that a bishop who died in 1979 somehow understands their questions about happiness, loneliness, identity, love and God. Why? Because technology has changed, but the human heart has not. Our deepest hunger remains the same.
The Church must learn to evangelize in the digital world. We should creatively use every worthy means available to proclaim Jesus Christ. Archbishop Sheen himself would surely encourage us to do so. But his witness also offers a necessary caution: We must never become so fascinated with the means of communication that we forget the purpose of communicating.
Our task is not to generate more content in an already noisy world. Our task is to help people encounter Christ — and through Christ, to encounter one another as brothers and sisters. Sometimes that encounter begins when the noise stops, the screen goes dark and a person becomes quiet enough to hear the voice of God speaking within the heart.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen understood that. Our world needs to rediscover it. – Vatican News
* The Most Reverend Louis Tylka is Bishop of Peoria, Illinois. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified September 24, 2026, in St Louis, Missouri. More information is available at CelebrateSheen.com.
