Beatification of Illinois native will be celebrated at The Dome at America’s Center
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified on Sept. 24 in St. Louis, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints announced March 25.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified at a Mass at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Sept. 24.
The beatification Mass will take place at 2 p.m. at The Dome at America’s Center, the same venue where St. John Paul II celebrated Mass during his January 1999 visit to St. Louis. Cardinal Luis Tagle, pro-prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside.
On Feb. 9, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced that the Vatican had given the green light for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen to move forward six years after the Holy See had postponed the beatification, initially scheduled for December 2019, only weeks before the event was to take place.
Archbishop Sheen, remembered as an influential and innovative evangelist who spread the Gospel through radio, print and television, is a native of El Paso, Illinois. The St. Louis venue for his beatification was chosen because of the large number of people expected to attend and “availability, being indoors and the close proximity to the Diocese of Peoria,” Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said in a March 25 statement.
“This is a moment of immense grace for the Church — especially for us in the Diocese of Peoria, where Archbishop Sheen was born, ordained and first served as a priest,” Bishop Tylka said. “His life and ministry continue to inspire countless people to know and love Jesus Christ more deeply. Through his preaching, teaching and personal witness, he brought the light of faith to millions, calling each of us to a deeper devotion to the Eucharist and to Our Blessed Mother.”
There will also be “a number of events” in Peoria to celebrate the beatification, he said.
The beatification Mass will take place during the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ bicentennial year, marking 200 years since its founding as a diocese. This is the first time a beatification or canonization will be celebrated in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said Eric Fair, archdiocesan director of archives and records.
“In 1953, the Archdiocese of St. Louis hosted the first Worldmission Exhibition at Kiel Auditorium under the leadership of Venerable Fulton Sheen, then national director of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. Some 270,000 faithful attended and dedicated themselves to providing for those in need,” Fair said. “We are thrilled to continue this relationship in celebrating his beatification Mass, the first ever in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.”
More information, including details about attending the celebration and ordering tickets when they become available, will be at celebratesheen.com.
OSV News contributed to this report.
Canonization process
Servant of God: The person’s cause is presented to and accepted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The title Servant of God is given to a candidate for sainthood whose cause is still under investigation.
Venerable: Once approved, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints declares that the person has heroically lived the Christian virtues.
Beatification: The dicastery recognizes that the person is in heaven and is given the title Blessed. This requires that a miracle has taken place through the intercession of the person.
Canonization: A second miracle typically is needed to declare someone a saint. The pope confers with the cardinals of the Church, and a date for the saint’s canonization ceremony is determined.
To read more about the Church’s process of canonization and history of declaring saints, visit www.usccb.org/offices/ public-affairs/saints.
