Where Have You Gone Fulton Sheen?

Raymond Cleaveland
(Originally published in Sacerdos)

During the 1952 American Presidential campaign, Eisenhower ran commercials in selected cities across the country. His opponent, Adlai Stevenson, did not employ television in his campaign strategy. He underestimated its power. TV was just making its debut in America’s living rooms, but it made the difference for Ike. It has for every politician in every country ever since.

The Church too was present back in 1952, the dawn of the TV age. When radio was king, Fulton J. Sheen’s Catholic Hour tantalized millions of listeners across North America. Sheen saw the TV as the new forum for evangelization and charged-in like a bull. The public went wild.

Exactly fifty years ago, Life is Worth Living debuted on prime time in millions of homes. Sheen’s ratings were so high the he almost forced Milton Berle-Mr. Television himself-off the air. Even Protestants used to say to their kids, “Now you sit down and watch Bishop Sheen.”

Then something happened. Life is Worth Living was bumped-off the air in 1965, and the Church was left high and dry in the television world. The honeymoon was not only over, the media had filed for divorce. Ever since, we have tried with only scant results to bring the Church back into mainstream media.

Sheen’s absence was felt when Humanae Vitae was published in 1968. It was a beautiful encyclical reaffirming perennial Christian teaching, but all we ever got from the media was the perspective of dissenters who bemoaned Paul VI’s encroachment on the Catholic bedroom. Without a vibrant Catholic media, it fell on deaf ears. Thirty-four years later, the “Catholic in the pews” still knows that the Church forbids condoms, but still can’t tell you why. Such ignorance is everyone’s loss.

A few months ago on M.T.V, a teenaged girl asked Colin Powell what he thought of the Church’s teaching on birth control. “I respect the Holy Father,” he replied, “but my advice to you is to use a condom.” Things haven’t changed, and perhaps they never will.

Or will they? If mine were the lone voice in the desert, they probably wouldn’t. Luckily, someone with a lot more influence than me also wants to turn things around. Last week, addressing the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Pope John Paul II said that the voice of the Church can no longer be “marginalized or silenced.”

During his voyages, St. Paul always went to preach in the marketplaces, where the action was. The Romans called it the “Forum.” John Paul II has called the mass media the “forum” of modern times. She “must enter the great forum of the media with courage and confidence," he proclaimed last week. It’s time for the Church and the media to kiss and make-up. Fast.

This means doing what Sheen did. He made the Gospel thrilling. He used the media; it was his pulpit. The media never used him; they didn’t dare. Today, one of the greatest media stars is Pope John Paul II himself. But beyond him, there’s an almost total vacuum. There is no Catholic “Larry King” in front of the cameras, and there is no Catholic “Rupert Murdoch” behind them.

Mother Angelica --- God bless her - touches some 70 million homes with EWTN. May she continue to do the marvelous job she is doing for many years to come. But in the meantime, the rest of us dare not sit on our hands thinking that there is nothing more to do. We must bring the Gospel to back to Fulton Sheen’s prime-time status.

My generation would call prime time the “in your face” hour. That’s where the action is. TV shows like “Friends” are “in our face” today, only their values are radically different from Sheen’s.

The so-called “hostile media” is not the main problem. Hostility is one thing. Apathy is another. No longer can we sit back lamenting and pointing fingers. The lack of Catholic presence on prime time isn’t the result of blackballing; rather, we haven’t made the cut. The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. We have rendered it dull.

For it isn’t so much ideology that rules the North American mass media, it’s the Almighty Dollar. Programs aren’t necessarily on prime time just because they are strange, vulgar, provocative or “alternative”, though that is undoubtedly part of it. Mostly they occupy prime-time space because they thrill, entice and humor the spectator. That’s what sells commercial airtime. The same is true in radio and in the press. “All the news that’s fit to print” could well be “just the news that fuels the mint.”

And the tragic consequence of today’s prime-time programs is that they form the nation’s conscience, for better or for worse; usually the latter. When traditional “taboos” are battered on prime time, they are disparaged in the minds of young and old alike. What was “sin” becomes an “expression of freedom.” Ever hear of two heavily armed teenagers opening fire in a classroom before films like Natural Born Killers came out?

When will the Pro-life forces realize that the battle won’t be won in the public courts until it is first won in the public conscience? And like it or not, the public conscience is formed from 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm on the networks and in the movie theatres. The pro-abortion Cider House Rules won an Oscar. The Silent Scream still collects dust on our shelves.

Some might think that the media would never accept any message that embodies Christian values. Not true. The message of Martin Luther King in the 60s wasn’t popular, nor was it “politically correct” at the time; But it was true, it was just, and it was Christian. The media was forced to cover him. King wasn’t in the news. He made news.

When presented well, truth has a way of standing out in the marketplace of ideas. “We shall overcome,” King cried. And he overcame.

The Cosby Show, so popular in the 80s, didn’t espouse the values of sexual promiscuity, “alternative lifestyle,” or “if it feels good, do it.” Quite the opposite. It had a clear pro-family, anti-drug, anti-dropout message for America’s youth. And its ratings went through the roof.

In other words, we must learn to do what Sheen did oh so well: make the Gospel exciting and enjoyable for modern men and women. We must start making Jesus Christ more attractive than James Bond. Bringing Christ to the “Forum of modern times” isn’t just a pastoral option. It is a pastoral duty.

Where are the Fulton Sheens of this generation? Where are the Martin Luther Kings who will stand up for the Gospel? "It is not enough to wait for things to happen, or to act in a random way," the Pope stressed last month. “Now is the time for concrete and effective planning." Those are not words of apathy.

So there is hope. The media loves to exalt the counter-cultural. And what could be more counter-cultural than the Gospel? It’s time to end the rout. It’s time to start the comeback. Fulton Sheen did his part. The Pope has done his. Mother Angelica is doing hers. Now we must do ours. This is our generation’s call to action. Shall we overcome?

Raymond Cleaveland is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Seattle. He is currently studying at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. rcleaveland@usml.edu

© Copyright 2005 Raymond Cleaveland.