Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen preaches from a pulpit in an undated photo.
Tickets for the beatification Mass of Fulton Sheen will be available beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 23.
Archbishop Sheen, remembered as an influential and innovative evangelist who spread the Gospel through radio, print and television, will be beatified on Sept. 24 at The Dome at America’s Center in Downtown St. Louis. Cardinal Luis Tagle, pro-prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside.
Tickets for the beatification Mass and other events will be available through the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation website at celebratesheen.com.
“We encourage you to register as early as possible. While we have worked diligently to accommodate the many pilgrims expected to travel from across the United States and around the world, demand is anticipated to be significant for several events,” Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said in a June 21 letter.
In addition to the beatification Mass, the Diocese of Peoria is inviting pilgrims to participate in prayerful events in the surrounding days. The schedule of events begins with a nine-day novena of holy hours at 7 p.m. every evening from Sept. 15-23 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria and an anniversary Mass of Sheen’s ordination at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20 at the Peoria cathedral.
In St. Louis, vespers will be celebrated at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. On Thursday, Sept. 24, beatification day will kick off with an expo at The Dome at America’s Center starting at 8 a.m. and a pre-Mass program with speakers and musicians at 10 a.m. The beatification Mass will be celebrated at 2 p.m., followed by a veneration of a relic of Archbishop Sheen from 4-6 p.m. Adoration and confession will be available at The Dome from 9 a.m.-noon and 4:30-6 p.m.
Masses of Thanksgiving and various parish talks will take place in the Diocese of Peoria on Sept. 25, and the Sheen Award Gala will get underway in the Peoria Civic Center at 6 p.m. that evening.
A Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite on Sept. 26 at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria will conclude the pilgrimage celebrations. (Archbishop Sheen was granted bi-ritual faculties by Pope Pius XII and authorized to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite.)
“My prayer is that the Beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be an opportunity for each of us to renew our commitment to sharing the Gospel and leading others to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ,” Bishop Tylka said. “Archbishop Sheen dedicated his life to helping people encounter the truth and love of God, and his witness continues to inspire countless men and women around the world today.”
Archbishop Sheen was a native of El Paso, Illinois. The St. Louis venue for his beatification Mass 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,” Bishop Tylka said in a March 25 statement.
The Dome at America’s Center, formerly known as the Trans World Dome, is the same venue where St. John Paul II celebrated Mass during his January 1999 visit to St. Louis.
Additional information regarding schedules, hotel accommodations, pilgrim resources and frequently asked questions will also be available on the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation website.
Groups affiliated with the Archdiocese of St. Louis may request reserved tickets by emailing sheenstlgroups@archstl.org. For more information, visit archstl.org/fulton-sheen-beatification-event-ticketing.
