(Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, 1952/Library of Congress)
Pope Benedict put the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, seen as the world’s first televangelist because of his popular programs in the 1950s-1960s in the United States, on the road to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday.
The pope signed a decree recognizing that Sheen lived a life of “heroic virtues”, an early step in the path that can lead to sainthood.
Now a miracle must be attributed for him to be beatified, which is the last step before sainthood.
Sheen, who died in 1979 at the age of 84, was one of the most famous Catholic Church figures in the United States for nearly half a century.
He had a hugely popular radio show in the 1930 called “The Catholic Hour”. He moved to television in the 1950s, where he used his show” Life Is Worth Living,” which drew audiences of tens of millions, to denounce communism during the Cold War.
