Why the difference in depiction of the cross between Catholics and Protestants?

Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. Am astounded that someone who is spiritual evolved and very learned, such as Bishop Fulton Sheen, would believe that Jesus is STILL hanging on that cross! (Just listened to a presentation on youtube.com where he said this.) If Jesus is still hanging on that cross, then EASTER never happened!!

Jesus is NOT still hanging on that cross, except in artistic depictions, whose purpose is apparently to REMIND US of the enormous sacrifice that Jesus/God made on our behalf. Jesus went to heaven, where He sitteth at the right hand of God the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

Nickecarlo touched on the answer: We (Catholics) preach Christ Crucified. Consider our need for Christ: since the fall of Adam and Even, heaven is closed to us. Absolutely nothing we can do as human can make up for the infinite offense of the Original Sin. But God promised a Redeemer. To repair an infinite offense requires an infinitely valuable sacrifice, which is the Sacrifice of Christ. In theory, since every act of Jesus was an act of God, even the slightest suffering -- taking on human nature, being circumcised -- would have sufficed. But would we really understand how much God loves us if He performed only the "minimum" sacrifice on our behalf? Instead, for us unworthy sinners, He not only took on our human nature but was tortured and died in the most cruel and humiliating manner possible. As Catholics we revere the Crucifix because it is the most universally transcendent symbol of love possible: God Himself became man and endured all of the suffering, tortures, insults, etc... for me... so that I might have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him in heaven. With such an overwhelming expression of love, how can we not love Him in return? And knowing that such a love exists, why not have a reminder ever-present?

Narnian has a great explanation of one part of it (no graven images). The other is that Jesus' glory is displayed not only in the cross, or Jesus hanging from it, but also in the empty tomb. While it is incredibly significant that Jesus died for our sins, what makes this sacrifice worthwhile is that in so doing he defeated death, and rose again. In this way, an empty cross from after the resurrection is much more meaningful.

According to Wikipedia, the Catholics use the Crucifix because:

Roman Catholic (Eastern and Western Rite Catholics), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and other Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services. They believe the crucifix is in keeping with Scripture, which states that “we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). In the West altar crosses and processional crosses began to be crucifixes in the 11th century, which became general around the 14th century, as they became cheaper than before. Since the Roman Missal of Pius V in 1570 use of a crucifix as an altar cross has been mandatory (with some exceptions) for the Catholic mass.

The Online Catholic Encyclopedia says:

The crucifix is the principal ornament of the altar. It is placed on the altar to recall to the mind of the celebrant, and the people, that the Victim offered on the altar is the same as was offered on the Cross. For this reason the crucifix must be placed on the altar as often as Mass is celebrated (Constit., Accepimus of Benedict XIV, 16 July, 1746).

And according to the above page on Wikipedia, the Protestants don't use it because:

Early Protestants generally rejected the use of the crucifix, and indeed the unadorned cross, along with other traditional religious imagery, as idolatrous. Martin Luther did not object to them, and this was among his differences with Andreas Karlstadt as early as 1525. Calvin was violently opposed to both cross and crucifix. In England the Royal Chapels of Elizabeth I were most unusual among English churches in retaining crucifixes, following the Queen's personal conservative preferences. Under James I these disappeared, and their brief re-appearance in the early 1620s when James' heir was seeking a Spanish marriage was the subject of rumour and close observation by both Catholics and Protestants; when the match fell through they disappeared. Opposition to plain crosses has generally softened in Protestantism, but many Protestant groups still oppose the crucifix.

A long time ago, I read up on the Crucifix and why it was allowed and what the reasoning behind allowing it was. But, I can't remember what it was that I had read or where I had read it. If I find a reference to it, I will update this answer but this is all I know for now.