The American bishop overseeing the cause for Blessed Fulton Sheen’s canonization is planning to bring the famous Catholic television evangelist back to life — as an interactive hologram powered by artificial intelligence.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, envisions an experience in which visitors can meet a lifelike recreation of Blessed Sheen, who died in 1979, and ask him questions. The answers would be generated using Sheen’s own writings and recorded teachings.
The project forms part of a proposed museum, the Sheen Experience, housed in the former school building where Blessed Sheen studied. A prototype of the hologram is already on display in Peoria.
In this week’s episode of Vatican Access, Bishop Tylka explains how the project began, why he believes Blessed Sheen would have embraced the technology, and how he hopes to introduce the pioneering television personality to a new generation.
In this episode:
How Bishop Tylka plans to recreate Blessed Fulton Sheen as an interactive AI hologram
What visitors will see, hear, and be able to ask the digital Sheen
The ethical questions surrounding AI recreations of people who have died
The proposed costs of the Sheen Experience and its fundraising needs
Why Bishop Tylka believes Sheen would have embraced today’s technology
Whether AI could eventually bring other Catholic saints back to life
Bishop Tylka also reflects on Sheen’s extraordinary success as a television evangelist, the challenges of reaching audiences in today’s crowded media landscape, and his hopes for Blessed Sheen’s canonization.