Over the last two issues of Mission magazine, we have been exploring Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s life and legacy, especially his work supporting the missions while National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States (1950-1966). In this issue, we will interrupt that series to discuss a fascinating new short film about Sheen entitled, “Follow that Bishop.”
Produced by Rome Reports and co-directed by Antonio Olivie and Sean Patrick Lovett, this 28-minute documentary uses a previously relatively unknown moment in Sheen’s life as a fascinating vehicle to expand on the much larger and more important roles he played as a writer, evangelist, bishop, and promoter of the missions. As part of the film’s release, TPMS co-sponsored screenings at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture in New York City and the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
The story begins in 1943, at the height of the Second World War, when an anonymous source alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of then-Monsignor Sheen’s strong criticism of the Soviet Union and its leader Joseph Stalin, topics he had been speaking about for many years, in fact, along with his intellectual criticism of Marxism. Recall that the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were allies against Nazi Germany, and some believed that any criticism of the U.S.’s allies could hurt the overall war effort. This led the bureau to open a file on Sheen and launch an investigation.
Since winning the war was of paramount importance, the FBI followed this and many other pointless leads. Eventually, the agents assigned to tail him came up with mostly worthless facts about Sheen such as that he liked chocolate ice cream, kept up a rigorous and somewhat ascetic schedule (including most notably his daily Holy Hour each morning), and once talked a police officer out of giving him a speeding ticket. All of these small but now comedic details about his life soon led the FBI to give up all suspicions. By the early 1950s, both the bureau and its long-serving director, J. Edgar Hoover, had done a complete about-face on now-Bishop Sheen and invited him to speak at a graduation ceremony of newly inducted agents. Sheen’s file on the FBI was now officially closed, and he went from being someone who might be a threat to national security to an American legend.
After using this amusing anecdote from Sheen’s life to grab the audience’s attention, the documentary goes on to briefly tell his story as both a churchman and national figure who garnered interest and attention beyond just the Catholic community thanks to his national syndicated radio show and television show, which at its height had a viewership of over 30 million and won him an Emmy Award in 1953.
The documentary concludes by discussing the miracle in 2010 in Illinois of the sudden recovery of a stillborn infant attributed to Sheen’s intercession, which is now pivotal in his canonization. The documentary shows footage of this now healthy 13-year-old boy playing with his brothers and sisters, as well as an interview with his mother regarding the details of his miraculous return to life after going 61 minutes without a heartbeat or respiration after birth. As part of Sheen’s canonization process, which began officially in 2002, he was declared a “Servant of God,” and six years later, as the process continued, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed him “Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen.” We now await his beatification as the Church continues its investigation.
To watch the trailer of “Follow that Bishop,” scan the QR below. The full version can be viewed at Rome Reports. We will continue our examination of the life of Fulton J. Sheen, including more fascinating facts, in subsequent issues of Mission magazine.
