Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen beatification advances after 6-year pause
(OSV News) — Venerable Fulton J. Sheen will soon be beatified, now that the Vatican has given the green light, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced Feb. 9. No date or location for the beatification was given.
The announcement comes six years after the Holy See had postponed the beatification, initially scheduled for December 2019, only weeks before the event was to take place.
“The Holy See has informed me that the Cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can proceed to Beatification,” Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria said in a Feb. 9 statement. “The next step in the process is the celebration of the Beatification, in which Fulton Sheen would be declared Blessed.”
He added, “We are working with the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican to determine the details for the upcoming Beatification.”
The bishop said the date and event details will be released soon through celebratesheen.com, the website for Archbishop Sheen’s cause.
“Archbishop Fulton Sheen was one of the greatest voices of evangelization in the Church and the world in the 20th century,” Bishop Tylka said. “I have long admired his lifelong commitment to serve the Church as a priest, rooted in his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist. As he journeyed through the different stages of his life, his ability to share the Gospel and truly relate to people drew countless souls into an encounter with Jesus — one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched.”
Cause controversies
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s cause for canonization, opened in 2002, has been stalled by two controversies — a public battle to relocate his remains from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York to its current location, the side chapel of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria; and, more significantly, concerns that as bishop of Rochester from 1966-1969, the prelate might have overlooked sexual abuse by at least one former diocesan priest there.
The latter concern was magnified after the state of New York adopted lookback laws that allowed hundreds of abuse claims to be considered, with the Diocese of Rochester ultimately filing for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was finalized in September 2025, after the establishment of a $256.35 million settlement fund for abuse survivors.
In July 2019, then-Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria announced Pope Francis had approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen, which led the way to the announcement he would be beatified. The announcement was made on Nov. 18, 2019, that Pope Francis had called for the beatification to be held Dec. 21, 2019, in Peoria.
A little more than two weeks later, a Dec. 3, 2019, news release from the Diocese of Peoria said it had been informed the previous day that the Holy See had decided to postpone the Dec. 21, 2019, ceremony “at the request of a few members” of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops over the possibility that abuse-related concerns might surface.
The Dec. 3 statement from the Diocese of Peoria said, “In our current climate it is important for the faithful to know that there has never been, nor is there now, any allegation against (Archbishop) Sheen involving the abuse of a minor.”
However, a Dec. 5 statement from the Diocese of Rochester, New York, said it had “expressed concern about advancing the cause for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen at this time without a further review of his role in priests’ assignments.” The statement said the Rochester Diocese, prior to the Vatican announcement Nov. 18 that Pope Francis approved the beatification, had provided documentation expressing its concern to the Diocese of Peoria and the Congregation for Saints’ Causes via the apostolic nunciature in Washington.
‘A growing devotion’
The one-time New York lookback window, part of the state’s Child Victims Act, was open from August 2019 until August 2021.
In December 2024, Msgr. Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, told OSV News that “Sheen is clean. … Not one accusation has been raised that impugned Sheen.”
Msgr. Gray said the foundation has examined “all of the pleadings” relevant to claims against the Rochester Diocese, and “there hasn’t been anything that was brought up there” implicating Archbishop Sheen.
Msgr. Gray also told OSV News that “the desire to see Sheen beatified is increasing, and there is a growing devotion to him,” as evidenced by a surge in visits to his tomb, requests for both relics and for his more than 50 books, and reports of favors and graces received through Archbishop Sheen’s intercession.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, ‘God’s microphone’
Archbishop Sheen is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. Once dubbed “God’s microphone,” Archbishop Sheen announced God’s truth in a non-confrontational, yet no less life-giving, manner to untold millions through radio, print and television.
Born in El Paso, Illinois, on May 8, 1895, Archbishop Sheen resolved to serve the Church as a priest from an early age. He was assigned to academic ministry following his ordination to the priesthood on Sept. 20, 1919, for the Diocese of Peoria.
After studies in Europe, a promising future as a professor awaited Archbishop Sheen. First, though, his bishop called him back to a parish in Peoria to test his obedience. And he zealously took on the task. In less than a year, though, Archbishop Sheen landed a professorship at The Catholic University of America in Washington. For a quarter century, he was known there for his engaging and stimulating lectures. During that time, he published more than half of his over 60 books, informed by a lively and heroic faith.
During the 1930s and 1940s, then-Msgr. Sheen became a household name as host of “The Catholic Hour,” broadcast nationally from NBC radio in New York. The priest emerged as a national voice, a prophetic truth-teller who spoke out on a host of issues, particularly the threats of communism.
Having to give up his professorship after appointment as director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1950, Msgr. Sheen moved to New York City. The next year, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of New York, ordained in Rome on June 11, 1951. Bishop Sheen began his work on behalf of the global missions with great energy, and his innovative efforts enabled him to evangelize at the same time. He donated all media earnings to the missions.
Evangelization via television
Beginning in 1952, Bishop Sheen proposed eternal truths each Tuesday evening to tens of millions via his “Life Is Worth Living” TV program, armed only with his charisma and intellect – and his famous cape and chalkboard. After his first year on the air, Bishop Sheen won an Emmy award for best television personality. Upon acceptance, he famously thanked his writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Bishop Sheen was a charitable and attentive pastor who treated prince and leper alike. His intelligence, wit and sense of humor made him an effective evangelist. And with clear teaching and common sense, Bishop Sheen helped people make sense of life’s problems. He was never afraid to proclaim Christ and brought many converts to Catholicism.
Throughout his 60-year priesthood, Bishop Sheen sought to conform himself more closely to Christ by observing a daily Eucharistic Holy Hour, what he called “the hour that makes my day.” He also was intensely devoted to the Mother of God.
Trials endured
Bishop Sheen battled various temptations and difficulties throughout his life — including a decade of behind-the-scenes hostility from Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York, which caused Bishop Sheen great pain. But in the face of his troubles, Bishop Sheen persevered in virtue. He understood his sufferings in light of God’s providence: “Christianity begins not with sunshine, but with defeat. During those days when my life was backed up against the cross, I began to know and to love it more.”
Despite his best efforts as bishop in Rochester, New York (1966-69) — what many considered to be an exile — Bishop Sheen’s brief tenure was met with great resistance, resulting in a good deal of self-described failure. After retirement, Bishop Sheen was appointed titular archbishop of Newport, Wales, by Pope St. Paul VI. Archbishop Sheen delivered retreats aimed at renewal of the priesthood throughout the country and maintained a voice in the public square through regular media appearances.
The temptations and sufferings Archbishop Sheen faced purified him and intensified his union with Christ. He maintained “God has been easy with me.” Toward the end of his life, writing in his autobiography, Archbishop Sheen apologized for his failures, wondering “Was I inspiring anyone to imitate Christ in the daily carrying of His Cross?”
After nearly two years in and out of the hospital following open-heart surgery, Archbishop Sheen died Dec. 9, 1979, in New York City, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. He was declared venerable in 2012.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen ‘a special blessing’
Bishop Tylka said that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, particularly in his work for the missions, “helped us recognize that the Church is meant for all people” and that “as members of the Church, we are called to serve everyone, especially those most in need and those longing to hear and experience the Gospel, wherever they may be in the world.”
“Archbishop Sheen will be a special blessing for the Church in the United States, where he was a powerful evangelist on radio, television, and in personal appearances,” he said.
Bishop Tylka expressed thanks for “the collaboration, assistance, generosity, and prayers from the Holy See, my brother Bishops, clergy and lay people from around the world in moving this cause forward.”
Contributing to this story were Gina Christian, Michael R. Heinlein and Catholic News Service.
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