Curtain is Rising on Sheen Center

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The Archdiocese of New York introduces the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought and Culture, 18 Bleecker St. in lower Manhattan, with a three-week grand opening festival Monday, Sept. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 4.

“During these three weeks, we’re thrilled to invite audiences—Catholics and non-Catholics alike—to come and discover the Sheen Center,” said William Spencer Reilly, the center’s executive director. “This is an absolute jewel of a space, and our opening slate of events offers a signature mix of civil discourse on important issues, with some of the fastest-rising talent in the visual and performing arts.”

The center is named after Archbishop Fulton Sheen, one of the foremost Catholic evangelists of the 20th century in the United States. Born in 1895, he began his broadcast career in radio in 1930. In 1952, his famous television show “Life Is Worth Living” began airing and quickly gained a large audience with many non-Catholics becoming regular viewers. He also hosted a nighttime radio show, “The Catholic Hour,” for 20 years before his TV debut and was a prolific and well-regarded author. 

Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., in 1919, he served as an auxiliary bishop in the New York Archdiocese for 15 years, beginning in 1951. Much of the same time he also was national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He later would serve as Bishop of Rochester, 1966-1969.

Cardinal Dolan has called the Sheen Center and its mission “unique and without parallel in any diocese in the nation,” and hopes its programming will “foster thought and dialogue,” while challenging and uplifting visitors intellectually, artistically and spiritually.

Reilly underscored the necessity of the Center, saying, “Exploring the true, the good and the beautiful is at the core of our mission, and the time seems so right for a new space in New York dedicated to those ideals.”

The state-of-the-art complex has a 274-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with 32 onstage inputs, an 80-seat black box theater, four rehearsal studios and an art gallery.

In addition to the center’s opening events, Pope Francis’ Papal Mass at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Sept. 25, will include a special pre-Mass line-up of talent, produced by the archdiocese in association with the Sheen Center.

Upcoming events include the following:

An Evening with Jeannie and Jim Gaffigan

Tuesday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.

The program will include a sneak peek of clips from upcoming episodes of Jim Gaffigan’s new television show. His family-friendly, laugh-out-loud stand-up has earned him a place at the forefront of today’s comedy scene, and “The Jim Gaffigan Show” has now brought his unique take on family life to living rooms across America. Gaffigan, his wife and their five children are members of the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in lower Manhattan.

Tickets: $19.50-39.50; first 100 tickets are $10.

Dorothy Day: Reaching Out to People on the Periphery

Saturday, Sept. 19, 1 p.m.

This program on Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, will include: an interview with author Robert Ellsberg, highlighting the parallels between Dorothy Day and Pope Francis; a screening of the documentary “Don’t Call Me a Saint,” and a panel discussion including the filmmaker Claudia Larson, as well as Ms. Day’s granddaughter, Martha Hennessy. George Horton of the Dorothy Day Guild will discuss Ms. Day’s road to canonization. Paul Elie, director of the American Pilgrimage Project at Georgetown University, moderates.

Tickets: Free, reservations required

Amore Opera: The Stars Align

Sunday, Sept. 27, 2 p.m.

Metropolitan Opera stars Aprile Millo, Francesco Casanova and European star Nicholas Tamagna will be joined by Amore’s roster of emerging talent. With a 15-piece orchestra.

Tickets: $19.50-39.50; first 100 tickets are $10.

information: www.sheencenter.org or (212) 925-2812.