The Fight Within the Catholic Church Over the Bones Of America âs First Televangelist
Bishop Fulton Sheen
Bishop Fulton Sheen  was the worldâs first televangelist  drawing 30 million viewers to  his  weekly show until  he  fell victim to a jealous cardinal who drove  him  off the air and out of New York into what was called âecclesiastical Siberia.â
In posthumous recompense for the wrongs  he  suffered at the hands of Francis Cardinal Spellman   he  was accorded the honor of being buried in the crypt beneath the altar at Saint Patrickâs cathedral.
But it was the small Illinois diocese where  Sheen  started out that began the process of making  him  a saint back in 2002. And the niece who is  Sheen âs closest living relative has filed a lawsuit seeking to have his remains moved to a cathedral in Peoria.
The present New York cardinal  Timothy Dolan  is a huge  Sheen  fan and is of the stated belief that his hero would want to stay undisturbed where he is.
Such doing would have been beyond all imagining back in 1952  when  Sheen   appeared on the cover of Time Magazine.  He  went on to beat out comedian Milton Berle for the 1953 Emmy for Most Outstanding Personality.
" He 's got better writers â Berle famously responded. âMatthew  Mark  Luke and John."
 Sheen  lightened the scripture with humor. In one episode about the Good Samaritan   he  offered a possible reason why the long ago priest and an assistant walked past a man who had been beaten and robbed.
âOne explanation that was given is that they found  the man  already robbed â  Sheen  said with a twinkle.
 He  went on to recount an encounter of  his  own with a panhandler who came up and requested $31 for a cup of coffee.
âI gave  him  a dollar and then it suddenly dawned on me. âThirty-one dollars â I said. âWhy do you want $31? A coffee and breakfast will only cost you a dollar. Why do you want the 30?â And you know what  he  told me? âYou wouldn't want me to go into a restaurant dressed in this suit  would you?â
But there was nothing funny at all about Sheenâs off-screen dispute with Spellman involving money and milk.  Sheen  was forced off the air in 1957  the same year  he  was nominated for a second Emmy.
 Sheen  suddenly found himself without a show.
âSpellman cancelled my uncleâs annual Good Friday sermon at Saint Patrick's  discouraged other New York clergy from befriending him  and âreassignedâ him to an upstate diocese â Cunningham says in  her  affidavit.
Exiled to Rochester   Sheen  told the retiring bishop there that there was no need to move from the well-appointed home where  he  had been living.
âMy uncle moved into an apartment over the bingo parlor â Cunningham notes in an unpublished memoir included in the court papers to document her close connection to  Sheen .
Rochester was struggling economically  and Cunningham remembered seeing numerous Native Americans who were panhandling.  Sheen  was always quick to give them money.
[TGT] was the worldâs first televangelist  drawing 30 million viewers to   [TGT]   weekly show until   [TGT]   fell victim to a jealous cardinal who drove   [TGT]   off the air and out of New York into what was called âecclesiastical Siberia.â
In posthumous recompense for the wrongs   [TGT]   suffered at the hands of Francis Cardinal Spellman    [TGT]   was accorded the honor of being buried in the crypt beneath the altar at Saint Patrickâs cathedral.
But it was the small Illinois diocese where  Sheen  started out that began the process of making  him  a saint back in 2002. And the niece who is  Sheen âs closest living relative has filed a lawsuit seeking to have his remains moved to a cathedral in Peoria.
The present New York cardinal  Timothy Dolan  is a huge  Sheen  fan and is of the stated belief that his hero would want to stay undisturbed where he is.
Such doing would have been beyond all imagining back in 1952  when  Sheen   appeared on the cover of Time Magazine.  He  went on to beat out comedian Milton Berle for the 1953 Emmy for Most Outstanding Personality.
" He 's got better writers â Berle famously responded. âMatthew  Mark  Luke and John."
 Sheen  lightened the scripture with humor. In one episode about the Good Samaritan   he  offered a possible reason why the long ago priest and an assistant walked past a man who had been beaten and robbed.
âOne explanation that was given is that they found  the man  already robbed â  Sheen  said with a twinkle.
 He  went on to recount an encounter of  his  own with a panhandler who came up and requested $31 for a cup of coffee.
âI gave  him  a dollar and then it suddenly dawned on me. âThirty-one dollars â I said. âWhy do you want $31? A coffee and breakfast will only cost you a dollar. Why do you want the 30?â And you know what  he  told me? âYou wouldn't want me to go into a restaurant dressed in this suit  would you?â
But there was nothing funny at all about Sheenâs off-screen dispute with Spellman involving money and milk.  Sheen  was forced off the air in 1957  the same year  he  was nominated for a second Emmy.
 Sheen  suddenly found himself without a show.
âSpellman cancelled my uncleâs annual Good Friday sermon at Saint Patrick's  discouraged other New York clergy from befriending him  and âreassignedâ him to an upstate diocese â Cunningham says in  her  affidavit.
Exiled to Rochester   Sheen  told the retiring bishop there that there was no need to move from the well-appointed home where  he  had been living.
âMy uncle moved into an apartment over the bingo parlor â Cunningham notes in an unpublished memoir included in the court papers to document her close connection to  Sheen .
Rochester was struggling economically  and Cunningham remembered seeing numerous Native Americans who were panhandling.  Sheen  was always quick to give them money.