Beloved American bishop Fulton J. Sheen was declared Blessed today at a Mass in St. Louis, advancing his cause in the Catholic Church’s process of canonization as a saint.
Fulton John Sheen was born Peter John Sheen on May 8, 1895, in El Paso, Illinois. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria in 1919, earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, and later taught philosophy and theology at the Catholic University of America.
From 1930 to 1950 he hosted NBC radio’s The Catholic Hour. Then, in 1951, he was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of New York and began the iconic television program Life Is Worth Living, which at its height reached an estimated 30 million viewers a week.
Sheen was widely known for his sermons, which focused on a number of social issues facing the American public that persist today. He received an Emmy Award in 1953 for most outstanding television personality.
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The beatification Mass took place at 2 p.m. Central Time at The Dome at America’s Center, a large indoor stadium chosen by the Diocese of Peoria because no local venue could hold the expected attendance. Organizers reported tens of thousands of tickets distributed.
Doors opened in the morning for Eucharistic adoration, confession, and an expo that included a replica of Sheen’s television set. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided as representative of Pope Leo XIV. About 89 bishops and roughly 1,000 priests participated.
After a formal request by Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria and a short biography of Sheen, Cardinal Tagle read in Latin the apostolic letter of Pope Leo XIV declaring Sheen blessed
Bishop Tylka then read it in English. A portrait of Sheen with a halo was unveiled. James Fulton Engstrom, whose 2010 recovery after being born without a pulse was the miracle approved for this step, presented a relic of Sheen’s as part of the ceremony.
Pope Leo XIV assigned December 9, the date of Sheen’s death, as his feast day.
In Catholic practice, beatification is the stage that follows a declaration of heroic virtue and precedes canonization. After a diocesan investigation opens a cause, the candidate is called Servant of God. If the Holy See recognizes a life of heroic virtue, the person is declared Venerable.
For those who are not martyrs, one miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession is ordinarily required for beatification. The newly beatified person receives the title Blessed and may be given limited public veneration, usually in particular places such as a diocese or country. A second miracle, occurring after beatification, is normally required before the pope may canonize the person as a saint and authorize universal public veneration.
Sheen’s cause opened in 2002. Pope Benedict XVI declared him Venerable in 2012. Pope Francis approved the Engstrom miracle in 2019. After a later review of Sheen’s years in Rochester, Pope Leo XIV authorized the beatification celebrated today.
In order to be declared a Catholic Saint, another miracle will have to be attributed to Sheen after the beatification date.
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