Sheen of Eloquence

America’s Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen, by Thomas C. Reeves (Encounter, 479 pp., $25.95)

IN the early 1950s, Fulton Sheen was the most famous Catholic in America. Already well known as a radio personality, Sheen in 1952 launched a weekly half-hour TV program called Life Is Worth Living. Attired in full purple regalia (he was auxiliary bishop of New York), Sheen each week stood in front of a studio camera and talked for 27 minutes and 20 seconds, without notes or a teleprompter. The speeches, actually carefully rehearsed and preceded by at least 30 hours of preparation on Sheen’s part, avoided sectarianism and mainly concerned such topics as patriotism, freedom, democracy, right and wrong, and, very often, the menace of atheistic Communism.

About the Author

Charlotte Allen

Charlotte Allen is author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus.

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America’s Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen, by Thomas C. Reeves (Encounter, 479 pp., $25.95)

IN the early 1950s, Fulton Sheen was the most famous Catholic in America. Already well known as a radio personality, Sheen in 1952 launched a weekly half-hour TV program called Life Is Worth Living. Attired in full purple regalia (he was auxiliary bishop of New York), Sheen each week stood in front of a studio camera and talked for 27 minutes and 20 seconds, without notes or a teleprompter. The speeches, actually carefully rehearsed and preceded by at least 30 hours of preparation on Sheen’s part, avoided sectarianism and mainly concerned such topics as patriotism, freedom, democracy, right and wrong, and, very often, the menace of atheistic Communism.