James Haupt
After nearly seven years of waiting, Archbishop Fulton Sheen will finally take the next step toward sainthood.
Sheen will be beatified Thursday, September 24, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside at the 2 p.m. Mass, representing Pope Leo XIV.
The Diocese of Peoria, Sheen’s home diocese, is organizing the celebration. St. Louis was chosen because they expect too large of a crowd for a venue in Peoria. Around 47,000 tickets have been sold so far.
BISHOP LOUIS TYLKA, Bishop of Peoria
We have 88 bishops registered. We have nearly 900 priests registered. We have I think 700… At least 700 seminarions, at least 600 religious coming. We know that there are folks across the board from, you know, folks that are involved in media because of his roots in media there is a lot of interest.
Thursday’s celebration comes after a long and complicated road toward sainthood.
Sheen’s cause for canonization was opened in 2002 and he was declared Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. This came two years after the first miracle occurred, which was officially approved in 2019 by Pope Francis.
Sheen’s beatification had been scheduled for December 2019 in Peoria. Less than three weeks before the ceremony, the Vatican postponed it after the investigation into Sheen’s handling of clergy sexual misconduct cases during his time as bishop there from 1966 to 1969.
BISHOP LOUIS TYLKA, Bishop of Peoria
Of course, all of that has been resolved. There was nothing that indicated Sheen. In fact the indication is that Sheen was ahead of his time. Because of the two cases that we are aware of from the Diocese of Rochester, he actually removed the priests back in the 1960s. So, you know, we don’t dwell on that. We look and say… I never heard a bishop, including the bishops of New York, speak against the cause moving forward. It’s just when was the right time.
Now, nearly seven years after the original ceremony was postponed, Sheen will officially become Blessed Fulton Sheen.
Bishop Louis Tylka reflects on what Fulton Sheen would say to all those watching and celebrating him on Thursday.
BISHOP LOUIS TYLKA, Bishop of Peoria
He would say “God love you.” Right. He ended every program by that message. He wanted people to know they were loved by God because he was loved by God and he knew that. So, I think he would look to the people who will be gathered at the dome, the people who will be gathered in the events here in Peoria, both before and afterwards- the mass of Thanksgiving, the Sheen awards. And to all those that are going to be watching online or on broadcasts. He would want them to know first and foremost that God loves them.
For the Diocese of Peoria, this marks the culmination of a cause that has been decades in the making, and the beginning of a new chapter for one of the most recognizable Catholic figures in American history.
