Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who got his start in the Twin Cities, to be beatified

Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified Thursday, in front of a St. Louis stadium capacity crowd expected to surpass 50,000.

The American will become one of only a dozen or so to reach beatification status, a status within the Catholic church that signifies a person is in heaven, considered "blessed," and worthy of public veneration. It's considered a final step before sainthood.

Sheen's journey to beatification saw him become who many consider the first televangelist — and certainly the first to reach celebrity status. 

At the peak of Sheen's popularity, the archbishop's weekly television show, "Life is Worth Living," drew more than 30 million viewers — nearly one in five Americans at the time.

During this time, the Catholic Church in the United States doubled in size and Sheen won a national Emmy award, beating out Lucille Ball and Edward R. Murrow for Most Outstanding TV Personality.

But more than 100 years ago, Sheen was simply a seminary student at St. Paul Seminary. It was there he developed his habit of daily one-hour prayer, a practice he would keep until his death in the late 1970s.

"We're the only seminary in the country that can claim he's our guy," said current St. Paul Seminary Rector Fr. Joseph Taphorn.

Taphorn says when Sheen is beatified Thursday, more than 100 current seminary students and dozens of staff members will be in attendance.

"We're going to go there and show up in force," he said.