Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Dr. Peter Howard, founder and president of the Fulton Sheen Institute and the Fulton Sheen Movement, via phone on July 28th, 2026. I rearranged, edited, and paraphrased some of the questions and answers to improve the reader experience while preserving the integrity of the original responses.
Additional context: the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation- based in Diocese of Peoria- all the canonical things goes through this organization- is distinct from the following:
- Fulton Sheen Institute- that’s the formation arm (retreats pilgrimages, media)
- Fulton Sheen Movement- a non-profit to help get the beatification back on track
Can you share how you first became interested in Venerable Fulton Sheen?
I listened to a remastered recording of a 1974 retreat for priests and seminarians.
I knew by the end of the retreat that I had to make some big decisions and I knew that Fulton Sheen was going to be a big part of my life.
Fulton Sheen became my academic obsession when I was studying and working on my doctorate. I used every chance I had to share the word about Fulton Sheen. After my doctorate, I wanted to build something that wasn’t in existence. I started the Fulton Sheen Foundation in 2019.
I know that the reintroduction of Sheen will lead to a resurgence of the priesthood and the New Evangelization. Over the last three years, I have been fighting for the beatification of Fulton Sheen. For example, when I saw Pope Leo XIV, in Rome as he was passing me by, I shouted out “Restart the cause for Fulton Sheen.” I believe the Holy Father heard me. It helps that Pope Leo is an American and was already familiar with Fulton Sheen.
Everything in this journey with Fulton Sheen is being choreographed by God. We need someone to lead America into the next generation and that person is Fulton Sheen.
Fulton Sheen was a man who understood the two great dynamics of our time: war and peace. As I got to learn more about him I learned that Fulton means war and Sheen means peace. Fulton has been called America’s saint.
What does Fulton Sheen’s beatification mean for the Church in America?
Fulton Sheen spoke about America needing a saint. His point was that America needs to have a saint that’s been formed entirely by the American story. Sheen was a son of the Illinois heartland, went to Catholic schools, and worked on the farm. I saw Sheen as the spiritual Douglas McArthur. He is clearly a prophet for our times. He had something to say for his original audience (60% of his audience was non-Catholic) and knew that America needed a true Christian philosophy of life. His agenda began the day he was ordained a priest.
You see his relevance from a Divine point of view because he is being beatified on the 250 Anniversary of America’s birth. The general lifespan of a democracy is about 250 years before they start to fizzle out. The soul of America has been at the heart of this battle for our nation. America started with a Declaration of Independence but we really need a Declaration of Dependence (on God).
Fulton Sheen has said America accepted Communism and our country is starting on a path different from our original founding.
Sheen is the saint that Americans are called to emulate. One of the things the Communists fear is the soul who goes on retreat and has time to ask those important questions about God.
The old world is dead. And the old America is dead, we are starting something new. If Sheen were alive today, he would be condemning all these things.
We either look at history as a journalist or a theologian. When you look at his feast day on December 9th. It is the day after the anniversary of the conquest of the Americas for God with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You see deeper connections with how Our Lady of Guadalupe ushered in the New Pentecost. Sheen had talked about how the world goes in 500 year cycles.
The Church goes through suffering, passion, death, and resurrection periods. Sheen doesn’t come into the picture to confuse things, he comes into the picture to magnify things. We are coming up at the end of this 500 year period that started with Guadalupe. Sheen is a modern day Saint Thomas Aquinas. He died at the beginning of Saint John Paul II’s papacy; he helped prepare the way for JPII’s mission.
His beatification date lands on the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy (another connection to JPII due to his devotion to Divine Mercy).
Heaven has put Fulton Sheen in this story. He is an icon by which to see Christ more clearly.
Why is this such a historic moment?
We are living at the close of an age. The secular empire is falling and we are in the battle of the world order. Just when we feel powerless we need to look to the East. We are leaderless in America. God is bringing us Fulton Sheen to be that leader. American 2.0 has only one destination and it’s a Catholic one.
We need saints, not academics. The only argument for people to truly listen to is personal holiness. And that’s what Fulton Sheen represents. He is that saint that can appeal to the average American Catholic.
Why was it important to organize a national conference and pilgrimage in conjunction with Sheen’s beatification?
It starts with you can’t love what you don’t know. The love that Catholic Americans should have is understanding the real Fulton Sheen. Being elevated to a global spotlight we need to help people discover (or rediscover) him for the first time. We are in the heart of the greatest spiritual battle. We need a general. The greatest saints come out of the direst times. God hasn’t left us orphans.
This conference is not a generic Catholic conference. It’s a gathering of those who suffered with the same convictions that Sheen suffered. Christ is discovered through suffering. Our speakers like Jason Jones (he converted to Catholicism due to Sheen) he is truly on the frontlines, in Sudan, Nigeria, Gaza to help the vulnerable. And that’s something people don’t know about. Sheen is his connection to the poor and vulnerable. We want to share who the REAL Fulton Sheen was.
The imitation of Christ we are called to is to imitate Sheen because he imitated Christ well. His blueprint for holiness can be applied and lived out for us all.
How can people learn more about the Fulton Sheen Movement and participate in the conference and beatification events?
You can learn more about the The Beatification Pilgrimage by visiting: https://fultonsheenmovement.com/pilgrimage-register
And you can learn more about America’s Saint Conference by visiting: https://fultonsheenconference.com/fultonsheenmovement.com
About Dr. Howard
Dr. Peter Howard resides in northern Idaho and is married to Chantal Howard. Together they have seven beautiful children spanning twenty-one years. Dr. Howard earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St.Thomas Aquinas [Angelicum] in Rome, Italy. He is the founder and president of the Fulton Sheen Institute and the Fulton Sheen Movement.
Peter is a renowned international Catholic speaker, podcaster, scholar of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, author, professor, theologian, Mariologist, member of the International Marian Association, and member of the Coalition of Eucharistic and Marian Apostolates (CEMA). Peter has spoken at international, national, diocesan and family conferences, Legatus Chapters, and the United States Air Force Academy. He has been featured on numerous Catholic radio, podcast and television networks.
Peter is also the founder and host of The Sheen Spotlight and The Catholic Patriot Podcast.
