24 MARIAN HELPER • SUMMER 2024 • MARIAN.ORG Two Champions of the Eucharist By Chris Sparks One was born in the 1800s, and died an old man of heart disease, a year or so into the ponti cate of St. John Paul II. e other was born in 1991, and died as a teenager, barely a year into the ponti cate of Pope Benedict XVI, su ering from acute leukemia. One authored many books, appeared on television in its earliest days in award-winning shows and historic appearances, and pioneered televangelism, never seeing the rise of the internet. e other took to the internet to spread the word of Eucharistic miracles, Marian apparitions, and the reality of Heaven, hell, and Purgatory. ey are Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (18951979) and Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991-2006). Two halves, same coin Blessed Carlo and Ven. Sheen are two halves of a coin, two Christians doing the same work — spreading the word of the Gospel to an unbelieving modern world, and doing it using the very latest in technology, of which they were each early adopters. ese two children of God, with such di erent lives, di erent upbringings, and di erent lengths of time on earth to make their marks, are perhaps some of the foremost apostles of the Eucharist in the last 150 years. Ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Peoria, Illinois, in 1919, Ven. Sheen is best remembered for his unprecedented 40-year run on radio and television, hosting “ e Catholic Hour” (1930-50), “Life is Worth Living” (1952-57), and “ e Fulton Sheen Program” (1961-68). A gi ed theologian with an engaging style, Ven. Sheen won Fr. Chris Alar talks about Blessed Carlo Acutis. CANONIZATION APPROVED!
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