Before Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, there was Fulton Sheen. The beloved tele-evangelist will be beatified on Sept. 24 in St. Louis, Missouri, and for Cardinal Raymond Burke this soon-to-be blessed serves as the perfect role model for Catholics living in the digital age.
The 78-year-old cardinal recently sat down with Evan Raugust and Braden Johnson — two Gen Z Catholic content creators — for a sit-down interview where he spoke about the legacy and witness of Sheen.
He recalled watching Sheen as a young boy.
“I was a little boy when he first came on radio and television,” Burke shared. “Of course we listened to him on the radio but then I think it was around 1954, maybe a little earlier, that my family bought the first television and he had his program. I believe it was on Tuesday nights and we would all be, the whole family, gathered around in front of the television set.”
He added, “He made such an impression on me as a boy.”
Burke pointed out how Sheen was “addressing the faith to the times” and that God “gave him a great gift as a communicator.”
Burke noted that Sheen rose to prominence at a time when the United States was
