Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron and “The Chosen” star Jonathan Roumie will be among the headliners at the first annual “Sheen Awards” taking place this month in Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s home diocese of Peoria.
On Sept. 3 the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation and Peoria Bishop Lou Tylka announced the list of speakers for the gala event, which will be held Sept. 25th at the Peoria Civic Center, the day after Sheen himself is beatified in St. Louis.
“We’re thrilled to bring the inaugural Sheen Awards to Peoria as we celebrate the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen,” said Peoria diocese COO Royce Hood. He said the goal is to make the event an annual production “celebrating Sheen’s legacy and recognizing people who are using their platforms to promote the faith.”
Hailed during and after his life for his use of mass media to promote and explain the Catholic faith, Sheen has long been celebrated for his pioneering work in Catholic radio and television.
Barron, founder of the Word on Fire ministry and host of the popular documentary series “Catholicism,” is widely viewed as a leading successor to Sheen’s legacy; his evangelistic work led the Wall Street Journal to dub him the “bishop of Catholic social media.”
Roumie, meanwhile, has found global fame portraying Jesus Christ in the spectacularly successful series “The Chosen.”
In a press release Bishop Tylka expressed admiration for Roumie’s “deep Catholic faith” which the actor “practices each day and which influences his acting in bringing Jesus to life through the Chosen.”
Roumie told the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation that when he first began learning about Sheen, he immediately recognized how he could relate to the archbishop given Roumie’s own acting work.
“When you watch him, it’s no wonder he had such a gift for being evangelistically present on television, serving the people he was trying to reach,” Roumie said. “It continues to be an inspiration to me as to just how much work there is for me to do to try to aspire to the reach and impact he had on culture.”
Tylka also announced the participation of the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Gabriel Caccia, at the awards ceremony. The nuncio’s presence “shows the importance of the beatification of Fulton Sheen for the Church in the United States and around the world,” the bishop said.
Other special guests include actor, producer and director David Henrie, host of the EWTN series “Seeking Beauty;” Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States Director Monsignor Roger Landry; Hallow CEO Alex Jones and Catholic author and media personality Katie Prejean McGrady.
Launching the same week that Archbishop Sheen will be beatified on Sept. 24, the Sheen Awards are meant to “recognize individuals whose work in media, evangelization, mission, and liturgy continues his mission of bringing Christ to the world with creativity, conviction, and joy,” the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation emphasized.
The Foundation added that more details and ticket information can be found at sheenawards.com. Tickets are still available, but space is limited.
The event is scheduled to air on EWTN on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
