Full List of American saints as Fulton Sheen to be beatified
The Vatican has authorized Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s cause to proceed to beatification, after a delay that began with a 2019 postponement, according to a February 9 statement from the Diocese of Peoria. The decision brings the influential American televangelist one step closer to joining a small group of canonized saints with recognized U.S. ties.
Who Was Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen?
Peter John Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895 and was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Peoria (the Catholic jurisdiction covering central Illinois) in 1919. He became a radio and television preacher who was hailed as one of America’s most influential Catholic communicators, hosting the popular show Life Is Worth Living, and even winning the 1953 Emmy for “most outstanding television personality.” He was appointed Bishop of Rochester, New York, in 1966 where he served until his retirement in 1969 at the age of 74. He died in 1979.
His supporters believe Sheen helped John F. Kennedy become America’s first-ever Catholic president in 1960, the New York Times reported.
In a 2009 interview, then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, who is now a cardinal, told the news outlet Sheen “showed the broad American public that the truths of our faith were consonant with the highest values of the society: patriotism, God, family, and the struggle against Communism.”
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Beatification
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria was informed by the Holy See that Sheen’s cause may proceed to beatification, he confirmed in a statement published on the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation website: “The next step in the process is the celebration of the Beatification, in which Fulton Sheen would be declared Blessed.”
Tylka said that the date, location, and event details of the beatification would be set in coordination with the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, a Vatican department.
The beatification had been scheduled for December 2019 after the Vatican recognized a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession—the 2010 revival of a stillborn boy after 61 minutes without a pulse—which qualified him for beatification. But it was postponed after the Diocese of Rochester requested further review of Sheen’s tenure and his role in priests’ assignments. That request was tied to concerns that he might have overlooked sexual abuse by at least one priest during the period. Sheen was never accused of abuse himself, and a Peoria canonical affairs official said an investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.
Separately, Sheen’s cause had also faced years of litigation over the relocation of his remains, which were ultimately transferred to Peoria in 2019.
Sheen is now one step closer to joining the core group of 12 canonized saints associated with the United States—figures the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) recognizes for their ties to the U.S through birth or ministry in what is now U.S. territory; some were also martyrs:
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821)Founder of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph and is considered a founder of the U.S. Catholic school system.
St. John Neumann (1811-1860)Missionary and fourth bishop of Philadelphia who organized the first U.S. diocesan Catholic school system.
St. Marianne Cope (1838-1918)Missionary to people living in Molokai, Hawaii, with Hansen’s disease.
St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)Founder of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and established schools and missions for Native and Black communities.
St. Junípero Serra (1713-1784)Founder of Spanish missions in California.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)A Mohawk woman who converted to Catholicism and later took a vow of perpetual virginity, living as a consecrated virgin.
St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)Missionary and founder of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa was also made an honorary U.S. citizen and so is recognized by the USCCB among U.S. saints.
St. Théodore Guérin (1798-1856)Founder of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Indiana.
St. Isaac Jogues (1607-1646)A Jesuit missionary and North American martyr who worked and died in present‑day New York.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917)Founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the first American citizen to be canonized, honored as the patron saint of immigrants.
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852)Missionary to Native Americans, who opened early Catholic schools west of the Mississippi.
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