Tag: Fulton J. Sheen

Sheen’s Body to move to Illinois?

Fulton SheenThe saga of who gets the body is rather sad. Who would think that the process of getting a person declared a saint in the Catholic Church could get acrimonious? But, in the case of the Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen it is. Today it was announced that the niece of Sheen, Joan Sheen Cunningham, has petitioned the New York Supreme Court to move the mortal remains of her uncle from the crypt in St Patrick’s Cathedral (NYC) to the Peoria, Illinois. Sheen died on December 9, 1979.

“All this focus on the body, the body,” Mrs. Cunningham said in an interview last week. “It’s forgetting what the purpose of the whole thing is. To keep someone from coming beatified over this, I think, is wrong.” Perhaps Cardinal Dolan could speed up the Sheen cause for canonization by ending the court petition now and send the body back to Peoria as requested. He’ll get a relic out of the deal anyways. Delaying is a tantamount to ecclesiastical game-playing.

The Diocese of Peoria has published this press release.

More to the story here.

Approved miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God Fulton Sheen

fulton (2)March 6, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Peoria, IL — The Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of Peoria and President of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, received word early Thursday morning that the 7-member board of medical experts who advise the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican unanimously approved a reported miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

The case involved a still born baby born in September 2010. For over an hour the child demonstrated no signs of life as medical professionals attempted every possible life saving procedure, while the child’s parents and loved ones began immediately to seek the intercession of Fulton Sheen. After 61 minutes the baby was restored to full life and three years later demonstrates a full recovery.

Today’s decision affirms that the team of Vatican medical experts can find no natural explanation for the child’s healing. The case will next be reviewed by a board of theologians. With their approval the case could move on to the cardinals and bishops who advise the Pope on these matters. Finally, the miracle would be presented to Pope Francis who would then officially affirm that God performed a miracle through the intercession of Fulton Sheen. There is no timeline as to when these next steps might move forward.

“Today is a significant step in the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of our beloved Fulton Sheen, a priest of Peoria and a Son of the Heartland who went on to change the world. There are many more steps ahead and more prayers are needed. But today is a good reason to rejoice,” commented Bishop Jenky.

Fulton Sheen was born May 8, 1895 in El Paso, IL outside of Peoria. His family moved to Peoria so that Fulton and his brothers could attend Catholic school. He grew up in the parish of the Cathedral of St. Mary where he was an altar server and later ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria. After advanced studies and service as a parish priest in the city of Peoria, Fulton Sheen was a professor of philosophy and religion at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. In the 1930s he became a popular radio personality and later a TV pioneer. His weekly TV program, “Life is Worth Living” eventually reached 30 million viewers and won an Emmy award for outstanding TV program.

From 1950-1966, Bishop Sheen was the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States, the Church’s primary missionary apostolate. In 1966, he was named Bishop of Rochester of New York where he served until his retirement in 1969, when he was named honorary Archbishop by Pope Paul VI. Fulton Sheen died at the entrance to his private chapel in his New York City apartment on December 9, 1979.

In September 2002, Bishop Jenky officially opened the cause for the beatification and canonization of Fulton Sheen. For six years, the Sheen Foundation, the official promoter of the Cause, gathered testimony from around the world and reviewed all of Sheen’s writings, before sending their conclusions to the Vatican. In June 2012, Pope Benedict affirmed the investigation that Sheen had lived a life of heroic virtue and holiness. Sheen was then titled “Venerable.”

Pending further review by the theologians and the cardinals who advise the Pope through the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, should Pope Francis validate this proposed miracle, Sheen could then be declared “Blessed” in a ceremony that could be celebrated in Peoria, Sheen’s hometown. Upon the Holy Father signing the decree for the beatification, an additional miracle would lead to the Canonization of Archbishop Sheen, in which he would be declared a “Saint.”

For more information about Fulton Sheen and the Cause for his canonization, visit: ArchbishopSheenCause.org.

Fulton Sheen: The Art of Preaching

FJSheen at desk.jpeg

The Dominican Friars of the Province of St Joseph have a new initiative on preaching using as their model the Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen, the famed preacher on TV and in Church. Kindly Light media will produce “Fulton Sheen: The Art of Preaching.” It is a worthy project to support.


“Fulton J. Sheen: The Art of Preaching” Examines effective preaching via the words of Fulton J. Sheen, with commentary from experts, including Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Fr. Peter John Cameron, OP.


Be sure to watch the trailer and read up on the project.

Fulton J. Sheen, Mother Angeline Teresa advances another step toward sainthood

Fulton Sheen in prayer.jpg

Two “New Yorkers” advance in the study of their sanctity: Fulton J. Sheen and Mother Angelina Teresa.


Today, Pope Benedict XVI gave his permission for the promulgation of the decree concerning the “heroic virtues” of now Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979). Sheen was a great communicator of the faith in the 20th century. His winning personality and sincerity drew people to Christ.

A wonderful development is the recognition that Brigida Teresa McCrory (1893-1984) known as Mother Angelina Teresa, foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirmed, lived a life of heroic virtue. This is good news because it highlights the good work these Carmelite sisters continue to do, notably around the corner from St Catherine of Siena Church (NYC).


 Moreover, he did the same for the former Prelate of Opus Dei, the Servant of God Alvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano, Spanish prelate of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (1914-1994). He was the immediate successor to Saint Josemaria.


Angelo Cardinal Amato SDB, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presented these and other causes for sainthood.


UPDATE: Cardinal Dolan writes about the 2 New Yorkers…

How nice are you?

“Our Lord was crucified by the nice people who held that religion was all right in its place, so long as its place was not here, where it might demand of them a change of heart. The gravest error of the nice people in all ages is the denial of sin.”

The Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen


h/t Fr Z

Fulton Sheen’s cause on the way–again!

Archbishop Fulton J Sheen.jpegThe Bishop of Peoria, Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has jump-started the canonization process for Fulton J. Sheen. Jenky took a pause in the case when Archbishop Timothy Dolan indicated that he wanted to keep Sheen’s body in the crypt at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and to see the process to completion. Not a good thing, for sure. The halting of the case happened in November, as you recall.

A Fulton J. Sheen website is found here and the canonization cause website is here.

Fulton J. Sheen’s cause for canonization halted

A distressing development has occurred with the canonization process for the Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen has been suspended by the Bishop of Peoria, Daniel Jenky, CSC. The issue seems to be the refusal of the Archdiocese of New York to return the mortal remains of Sheen to his home diocese of Peoria; the archbishop died in 1979 at the age of 84, and was entombed in the crypt of the famed Cathedral of Saint Patrick. Earlier that year he met Pope John Paul II in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in a terrific embrace of brothers. The life and work of Archbishop Sheen might be likened to being a 20th century Saint Dominic of Guzman. After serving for three years (1966-69) as the Bishop of Rochester (NY), Fulton returned to New York City. The diocesan phase of the process was concluded in 2008.

Bishop Jenky’s statement follows:

FJ Sheen with girl.jpgIt is with great sadness and disappointment, Bishop Jenky announces that after nine years of effort and sacrifice, the Diocese of Peoria is suspending its efforts on behalf of the Beatification of Fulton J. Sheen.  The Archdiocese of New York has made it clear that it is not likely that they will ever transfer the remains of Fulton J. Sheen to his home diocese of Peoria.  The Bishop hopes that the Archdiocese of New York, in whose Cathedral crypt the earthly remains of the Servant of God are still entombed, might now assume this responsibility.  In this endeavor he would pledge the cooperation of his diocese.  The bishop urges the clergy, faithful and religious of Peoria to continue to pray for the Cause of Archbishop Sheen whose heroic virtues in announcing the Gospel and serving the poor were an extraordinary blessing in the life of the Catholic Church.  The bishop would also like to remind all in his diocese and all those throughout the world who have so enthusiastically supported the Sheen Cause that finally it is only God who makes saints, not men.

The Diocese of Peoria remains committed to promote the message of the great priest, Fulton J. Sheen within our Diocese and to continue to develop our museum and research center devoted to his life.