Inaugural Sheen Awards celebrate a new generation of Catholic voices

The inaugural Sheen Awards honored Catholic evangelists inspired by Blessed Fulton Sheen’s pioneering use of media in a ceremony celebrating his legacy, which was broadcast nationally Oct. 3.

Hosted by Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka Sept. 25 in Peoria, Illinois, the ceremony included seven awards spanning broadcasting, digital evangelization, and service to the Church’s missions, according to EWTN, which aired the event. 

The gathering brought together Catholic leaders and figures from media and entertainment, including Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in “The Chosen”; and Catholic radio host Katie Prejean McGrady. Actor David Henrie served as emcee, and other guests included Bishop John Barres of Rockville Centre, New York, and actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan.

Bishop Barron received the Evangelization Impact Award, and Katie Prejean McGrady received the Radio and Podcast Impact Award.

In a red carpet interview, Bishop Tylka reflected on Sheen’s enduring influence on evangelization.

“What we’re about is not just naming Fulton Sheen blessed but accepting our responsibility to carry on the life, legacy, mission of Fulton Sheen, which is the life, legacy, mission of Jesus Christ…,” he said in footage shared by the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation. “Tonight is all about being able to offer encouragement, encourage those who today are in some ways doing what Fulton Sheen was doing. Whether it be in media, whether it be in communication, education, mission work,” he said. “We’re just trying to be able to say, ‘Hey, we can do this, too.’ And we should do it, too.”

Mother Angelica, EWTN’s foundress, posthumously received the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Lifetime Achievement Award for her service to the Church and pioneering work in television. 

“Mother Angelica took the torch from Archbishop Sheen because she saw the power of reaching people through the media, through television,” EWTN Studios President Peter Gagnon said as he accepted the award on her behalf, the outlet reported. “She, like Archbishop Sheen, could reach through that camera lens and talk to you. And when she was talking to you, she was talking to you directly.”

Roumie received the Television and Streaming Impact Award.

During the “Before He Is Called Blessed” webcast ahead of Sheen’s beatification, Roumie reflected on the connection between the archbishop’s television ministry and his own work as an actor, as Zeale News previously reported.

“I started looking into him and I recognized and I understood what his ministry was and how I could sort of relate to it, working in television and working in my heart as a form of ministry, doing what I do as an actor, using the gifts that God has entrusted to me to point the way to his son Jesus,” Roumie said.

The Mission and Humanitarian Impact Award was presented to the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, which Sheen led as national director from 1950 to 1966.

Sheen became the first American-born bishop to be declared Blessed at his Sept. 24 beatification Mass in St. Louis, Missouri. More than 50,000 people attended the liturgy, including Catholics from several generations who told Zeale News how his preaching and example continue to shape their faith.

Through radio and his Emmy Award-winning television program “Life Is Worth Living,” Sheen became a trailblazer for Catholic communicators like those honored at the inaugural awards.

According to the outlet, Michael Warsaw, EWTN chairman and CEO encouraged others to follow Sheen and Mother Angelica’s example in sharing the faith.

“May their example inspire us all to use the gifts God has given us,” Warsaw said, “to proclaim the Gospel with courage, creativity and joy.”