Why the FBI investigated Archbishop Sheen during WWII
In 1943 the FBI opened a file on Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen after an anonymous tip about his criticism of the Soviet Union and Stalin, fearing it could harm the U.S. war effort. Investigators gathered trivial personal details—such as his ice‑cream preference, daily Holy Hour schedule and a speeding‑ticket incident—that ultimately led the FBI to close the file and clear Sheen of suspicion. By the 1950s the bureau reversed its stance, inviting Sheen to speak at a graduation ceremony for newly inducted agents and officially closing his file. A 2023 documentary, "Follow that Bishop," uses this episode to highlight Sheen's broader legacy as a writer, evangelist, national media personality with a 30‑million viewership and an Emmy award. The film also covers the 2010 Illinois miracle involving the recovery of a stillborn infant, a key event in Sheen's beatification.
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During World War II, the FBI investigated Fulton J. Sheen after an anonymous source reported his criticism of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, and Marxism. The investigation eventually ended without finding a national-security threat, and Sheen later became a prominent Catholic broadcaster, bishop, and candidate for sainthood. 1
In 1943, Sheen was still a monsignor and had been publicly criticizing the Soviet Union, Stalin, and Marxist ideology for years. Because the United States and the Soviet Union were allied against Nazi Germany, some officials believed criticism of an American wartime ally could undermine the war effort. 1
An anonymous report brought Sheen’s views to the FBI’s attention, prompting the bureau to open a file and investigate him. 1
FBI agents followed Sheen and gathered details about his personal life and routine. Their reports included seemingly innocuous information, such as his preference for chocolate ice cream, his demanding and ascetic schedule, and his practice of making a daily Holy Hour. 1
The investigation also recorded that Sheen had once persuaded a police officer not to issue him a speeding ticket. The article describes these findings as largely worthless and says the FBI eventually abandoned its suspicions. 1
By the early 1950s, the FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had changed their view of Sheen. The bureau invited him to speak at a graduation ceremony for newly inducted agents, and his FBI file was officially closed. 1
Sheen became a nationally known Catholic evangelist through syndicated radio and television programs. His television audience eventually exceeded 30 million, and he received an Emmy Award in 1953. 1
He also served as national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States from 1950 to 1966. 1
The 2023 documentary Follow that Bishop uses the FBI investigation as an entry point into Sheen’s wider career as a writer, evangelist, bishop, and promoter of Catholic missions. 1
The article also recounts a 2010 Illinois miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession: the recovery of a stillborn infant who reportedly went 61 minutes without a heartbeat or respiration. The child was later shown as a healthy teenager, and the event became pivotal to Sheen’s beatification cause. 1
Sheen’s canonization process began in 2002. He was later declared a Servant of God, and Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed him Venerable Servant of God in 2012; according to the article, his beatification was scheduled for Sept. 24, 2026, in St. Louis. 1*
Examine FBI surveillance of Catholic leaders during WWII
The available material does not document the FBI’s wartime surveillance files or establish how many Catholic leaders were monitored. It does, however, place such surveillance within a broader climate in which Catholic institutions were sometimes treated as possible political or security threats, even when their activities were religious and charitable rather than conspiratorial.
American Catholic leaders publicly participated in national life and could be strongly patriotic. The historical discussion supplied here notes that earlier tensions generally arose from anti-Catholic prejudice or governmental overreach, but that suspicion intensified when Catholics were portrayed as threats to American freedom or as potential instruments of foreign ideologies.
During the Second World War, Catholic leaders also confronted competing political dangers. Pius XII described Nazism as fundamentally hostile to the Church and reported persecution of Catholic clergy and laity, including imprisonment and concentration-camp detention for fidelity to the faith. This helps explain why Catholic criticism of totalitarian regimes—whether Nazi or Communist—could be politically significant without being evidence of disloyalty.
Pius XI’s Non Abbiamo Bisogno provides a clear Catholic critique of state surveillance and suspicion. He reported that correspondence connected with Catholic Action was intercepted and confiscated, despite the absence of evidence that Catholic Action was directing dangerous political activity. He further stated that Catholic Action’s documents overwhelmingly concerned prayer, religious study, catechesis, sacramental practice, and Christian charity.
The encyclical also describes surveillance, denunciations, and intimidation directed against Catholic youth associations. Pius XI’s argument is important for assessing FBI activity: monitoring may be legally motivated by national-security concerns, but the existence of surveillance does not itself demonstrate wrongdoing. Authorities must distinguish genuine subversion from ordinary religious organization, political criticism, or unpopular opinions.
In the case of Catholic leaders during WWII, surveillance could have arisen from several overlapping anxieties:
The supplied material supports the broader conclusion that Catholic criticism of totalitarianism was not automatically anti-democratic or disloyal. Pius XII’s wartime teaching defended moral law and human dignity against Nazi ideology, while also treating peace and international order as essential political goods.
FBI surveillance should therefore be examined critically rather than interpreted in only one direction. It may reveal legitimate wartime caution, but it may also expose institutional bias, especially when investigators treated Catholic religious speech as coded political activity. Pius XI’s critique of Fascist surveillance offers a relevant Catholic principle: authorities should rely on concrete evidence, not preconceived interpretations or accusations unsupported by facts.
The specific FBI files, targets, investigative methods, and conclusions remain unresolved in the supplied material. In particular, it does not independently document the surveillance of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen or other named Catholic leaders.