Beatification of Fulton Sheen will be a 'significant moment' for Catholic Diocese of Peoria

The beatification of central Illinois native Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen by the Catholic Church will be “one of the most significant moments in the life of our local church,” Bishop Louis Tylka of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria said recently.

Tylka announced the news on Feb. 9. 

The next step in the cause for sainthood for Sheen, who for now has the title Venerable, will involve a beatification Mass in which he will be declared “Blessed.” If another verified miracle is attributed to Sheen’s intercession, he could be recognized as a saint.

Sheen, who lived from 1895 to 1979, was born in El Paso in Woodford County, attended Spalding Institute in Peoria, and was ordained a priest at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria in 1919.

After a variety of academic achievements, he started hosting “The Catholic Hour” on nationwide radio, then the program “Life Is Worth LIving” on NBC-TV in the 1950s, outgaining even Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra in viewers and winning an Emmy award. He continued his work in TV and other venues after that and is seen as a pioneer in using new media.

Sheen’s body was moved to Peoria several years ago from New York City and is entombed at St. Mary’s Cathedral. 

‘Masterful’ messaging

“(Sheen) used the technology of his day to speak clearly, passionately, often with great intellect and wisdom as well as a great sense of humor to speak to people, inviting them to reflect upon the most significant questions we have,” Tylka said. “Questions like what role does God play in our life, how does He call us to be good citizens, to be good brothers and sisters? What Archbishop Sheen did and what he still does for us is provide an example that reminds us that we are all called to go out and give witness to our faith and to make the world a better place by the way we live our lives and treat one another.

“And he was just masterful in the ways in which he brought those understandings even closer and deeper into our hearts, especially using the new media of his day.”

More visitors to Peoria

The beatification announcement is “a moment to reflect upon our own journey of faith and how Archbishop Sheen’s faith was nurtured here in Illinois,” Tylka said. 

“The residents of Central Illinois can share in the pride that we have in the Catholic Church of moving forward with the cause for Archbishop Sheen, but they can also expect many more visitors to be coming to our part of the state,” he said.

Tylka said thousands already visit Sheen’s tomb, with more to be expected at the planned Sheen Experience at the original building of Spalding Institute at 401 NE Madison Ave. 

Saints are ‘models of faith’

The bishop said that the Catholic Church “lifts up saints for their model of faith to inspire us today to live out how faith.”

“We have a process where what is called the cause of canonization develops over time,” Tylka said. “The diocese locally begins by lifting up an individual whose life is then investigated and is ultimately one deemed worthy of giving a heroic witness and is called a ‘venerable.’

“The next step in that process toward becoming a saint is beatification. That happens after a miracle attributable to the person’s intercession takes place.”

‘MIracle baby’ in Washington

That miracle is believed to have happened in 2010 to a Washington, Ill., family when James Fulton Engstrom was born without a pulse and didn’t take a breath for 61 minutes after birth. His parents, Bonnie and Travis Engstrom, had entrusted their baby to Sheen during the pregnancy, said Monsignor Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation. When the birth crisis became known among the Engstroms’ family and friends, prayer started in earnest, and James took his first breath at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

The “miracle baby” is now a freshman at Washington High School. The miracle of his survival without physical repercussions was investigated and approved as a verified miracle by the Vatican in 2014. The story is recounted in Bonnie Engstrom’s book “61 Minutes to a Miracle: Fulton Sheen and a True Story of the Impossible.”

Tylka explained that the Catholic Church teaches that Christians can ask those who have been recognized as saints to intercede for them, just like they can ask fellow Christians to pray for them. 

“All of our prayers ultimately go to the Lord, and the Lord is the one who answers our prayers,” Tylka said. “Even the miracle that is attributed to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession is not his (Sheen’s) doing, it’s God’s doing. It’s God’s grace coming to us. 

“The saints accompany us on our journey of faith. They’re witnesses to us of being faithful to our calling.”

Time to study Sheen’s work, life

The diocese is working with the Vatican’s Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints to determine when the beatification ceremony will occur.

“We’ve just begun those processes,” Tylka said. “We’ve sent our first requests off to Rome and are waiting for their response.”

But during the wait, the bishop said, Christians throughout central Illinois can study Sheen’s life and works, whether in books such as his “Life of Christ” or through YouTube.

“I encourage everybody to take this opportunity, to encounter him,” Tylka said. “He was such a man of his time. He had something to say on just about every topic, and his insights and his wisdom that he shared with us are just as valid today as they were 60, 70 years ago.

“The name of his TV program was ‘Life Is Worth Living,’ and he showed us that life is worth living when we live it for God, and that’s the important thing to encounter through Archbishop Sheen.”