Description
It is hard to consider that this is the first and only full biography of Fulton J. Sheen, perhaps a very powerful American priest of the 20th century. Sheen used to be an enormously popular figure in his day, hosting radio and television programs that introduced and explained his faith to millions of listeners and viewers. (He even won an Emmy Award, and the actor Martin Sheen took his stage name from the man.) Thomas C. Reeves, writer of the JFK biography A Question of Character, offers an absorbing account of Sheen’s life and times. He uncovers fascinating details, including a phony academic degree and the particulars of a bitter dogfight with Francis Cardinal Spellman. Even though this is not a hagiographic account, it is an admiring one: Sheen comes across as an astoundingly smart, charismatic, and generous man. No wonder he used to be the sort of successful evangelizer: he converted thousands, including Henry Ford II and Claire Booth Luce. He gained some notoriety for his strong anticommunism; reading America’s Bishop, in truth, provides a concise history of Catholic anticommunism in america. It is an outstanding book a good way to appeal to fans of George Weigel’s Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II and anybody else attracted to this fascinating figure. –John Miller