Peter John (Fulton) Sheen was born on May 8, 1895 at El Paso, Illinois. Ordained priest in 1919, Fulton received the doctorate of philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain (1923) — the Catholic-scholastic philosophical formation.
In 1930, Fulton began his famous radio ministry with the NBC 'Catholic Hour' — the systematic use of modern mass media for Catholic apologetics.
In 1951, Fulton was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of New York.
From 1951 to 1957, Fulton hosted the famous 'Life Is Worth Living' television program on the DuMont Television Network — the first Catholic prime-time television broadcast, drawing tens of millions of American viewers. Fulton won two Emmy Awards for his television broadcasting.
Fulton received the famous public conversions of the communist Louis Budenz, Congressman Clare Booth Luce, actress Loretta Young, and multiple public figures.
In 1966, Fulton was consecrated Bishop of Rochester, New York. He retired from Rochester in 1969 and was consecrated Titular Archbishop of Newport.
Fulton composed over 70 books — most famously 'Life of Christ' (1958) and 'The Priest Is Not His Own' (1963).
He died in New York City on December 9, 1979 at the age of 84. Benedict XVI declared him Venerable on June 28, 2012, and he was beatified on September 24, 2026 — at the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis rather than in his own Peoria, the diocese having wanted a room large enough for the fifty thousand expected. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle presided as the delegate of Leo XIV.