Culture

Last month, the Vatican announced that they would continue pursuing the canonization of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Archbishop Sheen is remembered for pioneering the use of television to preach to Catholics all over the country, especially through his television series "Life is Worth Living," for which he won an Emmy in 1953. The Venerable Fulton Sheen's example of embracing technology can be seen in the development of Catholic television in our own archdiocese.
When television became more popular in the 1940s, our archdiocese saw it as an opportunity to bring the liturgy into the homes of the faithful. The first televised Mass in Boston was celebrated by then-Archbishop Richard Cushing on Christmas Eve, 1949, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. In 1955, the Catholic Television Center -- also known as the Archdiocesan Television Center and now The CatholicTV Network -- aired their first program, a Pontifical Low Mass, again celebrated by Archbishop Cushing, according to Catholic TV. By 1956, the center ran a fully operating studio that broadcast Mass every Sunday at 9:15 a.m. from the studio chapel, as well as other programming for Catholics. The televised Masses were a benefit to the ill, elderly, and all those who could not physically attend Mass.

So, by the time Archbishop Sheen was on Boston airwaves, the archdiocese was no stranger to television. Archbishop Sheen (who was then an Auxiliary Bishop of New York) joined Archbishop Cushing on Feb. 10, 1957, for a "Newspilot" feature about religious programming called "The Story of Television." One highlight of the program was the introduction of the Television Center's new "camera-station wagon." The mobile unit featured a platform on the roof, where the film camera and operator stood and was branded with "WIHS-TV Catholic Television Centre" on the driver's door, according to a photo published in The Pilot.
In the Feb. 10 Newspilot, Archbishop Sheen said of our Archbishop Cushing: "In the political and religious life of the United States there have been two individuals who have been very close to the people. In the political arena, it was Abraham Lincoln; in the spiritual realm, it is your own Archbishop. Since however he cannot be with you, each individually, he now takes this means of being with you through the medium of the Catholic TV Center," according to a press release from the Archdiocesan News Bureau.
Archbishop Sheen's comparison was a nod to Lincoln's Birthday on Feb. 12, one of the holidays that is now celebrated as Presidents' Day, but it also speaks to the popularity and outgoing reputation of the beloved soon-to-be cardinal. Archbishop Sheen went on to say that he believes that "there are more people in the state of Sanctifying Grace in Boston than in any other city in the world. When they are in the state of Sanctifying Grace, they are God's friends, and my friends, and everyone's friends." His message of interconnectivity among the faithful was appropriate for his first appearance on Boston's relatively new television channel.
The week prior to Archbishop Sheen's visit, Archbishop Cushing ordained 37 priests from St. John's Seminary's graduating class of 78 men in a "telecast" that reportedly reached a large audience throughout New England. At the ordination, Archbishop Cushing addressed the audience, praising them for their prayers and sacrifices for their children who were called to religious life. He said, "Through the miracle of television, you were closer to the ceremony and all its teachings. I hope many future priests observed the program on TV," according to The Pilot. In a telecast that reportedly had an "overwhelming" response, the cardinal embraced this moment of visibility to evangelize and call for an increase of vocations.
The next day, Feb. 3, 1957, one of the newly ordained priests, Father Frederic Morris Cameron, celebrated his first Solemn Mass, assisted by Father Thomas J. Riley and with Archbishop Cushing presiding. The Mass was celebrated and broadcast from the Archdiocesan TV Center's studio chapel, making Father Frederic the first newly ordained priest to say his first Mass on television.
In 1956, Broadcast News issued a magazine on the Archdiocesan Television Centre, stating that "the Centre's primary purpose is to educate televiewers in the liturgy." The legacy of that mission has only grown. Now, Catholics can find Mass, prayer, news, educational programming, and more on television. More than 70 years ago, Venerable Fulton Sheen and Cardinal Cushing saw the great opportunity that the novel medium could provide to evangelize and connect the faithful to their Church and to each other.

SAVANNAH MILLER IS AN ARCHIVIST OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON.

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