Life and Time magazine ran feature stories on Bishop Sheen.

The model for me was Bishop Sheen.

Bishop Sheen went up against Milton Berle (Tuesday nights at 8) with just a blackboard for a set.

Bishop Sheen, whose father owned a hardware store in Illinois, was ordained in Peoria in 1919.

Bishop Sheen died in 1979 at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan at the age of 84.

In 2002 the Vatican declared Bishop Sheen a servant of God, a step that allowed his supporters to make a case for sainthood.

Bishop Sheen attracted a large and fervent following, in part because he was able to make complex theological concepts understandable, Father Coughlin said.

Before television, Bishop Sheen became well-known on the radio.

Standing in the crypt, Monsignor Soseman said he was encouraged by the large turnout but reluctant to predict whether Bishop Sheen might become a saint.

Are you old enough to remember Bishop Sheen?