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Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, pictured in an undated photo.
OSV News photo/courtesy Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation
July 30, 2026
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The celebration Allan Smith has long awaited — more than 15 years of hope and prayer — is less than two months away.
On Sept. 24, the director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Mission Society of Canada will join tens of thousands inside The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis to observe the beatification of the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, known to many as “God’s Microphone.”
“There are registrations from various countries, delegations, small groups and large groups,” said Smith. “They had 100,000 souls in that stadium when St. John Paul II came to St. Louis in 1999 — they can put 80-90,000 in the stands for Blessed Sheen.”
Smith had not only advocated for this auspicious occasion through his educational society and radio programs on FM98.5 CKWR and the international Radio Maria network, the Midland, Ont., resident also championed this beatification case as a member of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation based in Peoria, Illinois.
Notably, Smith is the foundation’s lone non-American delegate. Former Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky invited the Canadian Catholic to join in 2013.
Ever since his wife Isabel recited the first line from Sheen’s 1949 book Peace of Soul — “unless souls are saved, nothing is saved” — Smith has been captivated by the late Bishop of Rochester, N.Y., who broke into broadcasting with The Catholic Hour on radio in 1930. After 20 years, he transitioned into the nascent medium of television with Life is Worth Living and The Fulton Sheen Program
Smith quipped that he earned a “Bachelor of Sheen degree” as he studied every book, cassette tape and video he could find. Before long, he began passing on what he had learned through the radio, retreats and books.
In partnership with Sophia Institute Press, Smith’s latest contribution as an exponent of this famed evangelizer is the newly released Fulton Sheen's Meditations on the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Christian Life. It delves into Sheen’s love affair with his daily Holy Hour.
“He couldn't wait to make his holy hour because he wanted to spend time with Jesus,” said Smith. “Sadly, we have other things we want to do besides being with Jesus. We have a war of loves. Do you have the higher loves, or would you prefer to be enjoying the lower loves Choosing the higher love is always a challenge, but Fulton Sheen shows the way by his holy example. Sixty-two years… he never missed.”
To aid readers interested in instituting a daily Holy Hour, Smith’s book features six guided spiritual retreats on the Holy Face, Our Lady, the Beatitudes, the Eucharist, the Cross and Holy Week. The daily reflections, prayers and calls to action in each section are infused with Sheen’s teachings.
“It's this rule of life that we need to develop where we, again, spend time with Jesus every day, spend time with His mother, reform ourselves in the Beatitudes, we learn from the Cross and we learn to abide with Him in the Eucharist,” said Smith. “That's the idea.
“We all need to pull away for a few minutes every day just to get a perspective on our eternal destiny. I think that's what the book does. I've tried to take the gems of Sheen's 66 books and put them into this retreat-style book that I think will touch many lives over the years.”
Smith, now 65, first discovered Sheen at age 48. It delights him that so many children, teenagers and young adults around the world are learning about this beloved figure and resonating with what he had to say, particularly his credo “life is worth living.”
“There’s that message out there of ‘just give up’ with high suicide rates, depression and constant tension, but yet there’s that hope,” said Smith. “God has a plan. And if we just kind of tap into that, then you'll understand that your life has purpose, it has meaning. Fulton Sheen brought this spirit of hope to people every week when he appeared on television or on his radio addresses. He gave them hope. I know it's hundreds of thousands of souls, if not millions of souls, have come to the faith because of Fulton Sheen, and he's doing it still today. The stuff that we're listening to from the 1950s is good for 2026.”
Smith’s next written ode to Sheen arrives on Sept. 15, nine days before the beatification. That book is titled America’s Apostle: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen.
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the August 09, 2026, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Canadian keeps the Sheen message alive".
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