Famed evangelist and Emmy-winning TV host Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “It does not require much time to make us saints. It requires only much love.”
The media pioneer from central Illinois who once captivated millions of American viewers with his faith-filled primetime programming is now one step closer to sainthood.
Tens of thousands of Catholic faithful gathered for Sheen’s historic beatification in St. Louis on Thursday, marking the first Illinois native to reach this milestone on the path to canonization.
Bishop Louis Tylka of the Diocese of Peoria, which opened Sheen’s cause for canonization almost a quarter-century ago, donned Sheen’s iconic pectoral cross — famously worn by the American prelate during his television broadcasts — for the beatification Mass and celebration events held throughout the day at the Dome at America’s Center.
“I am overwhelmed with joy,” Tylka said. “I know this is a moment of grace for not just the church in Peoria, not just the church in the United States, but really for the church around the world.”
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a top Vatican leader of global evangelization, presided over the Mass, which drew a crowd of roughly 50,000 worshippers from almost every state as well as 10 countries, including large groups from Poland, Italy and Brazil, according to Diocese of Peoria officials.
Tagle noted the local connection between Chicago native Pope Leo XIV and Sheen, who was born and raised just a few hours away in the same state.
“I bring to you the paternal greetings of his holiness Pope Leo XIV, who rejoices in the beatification of his fellow countryman, his fellow Illinoisan and brother bishop,” he said.
Prior to the liturgical service, an exhibition hall at the Dome featured more than a hundred displays of Catholic books, artwork and religious gifts, as well as representatives of various faith ministries from across the country.
An event dubbed “The Fulton Sheen Show” showcased a variety of speakers honoring Sheen’s legacy by addressing the audience from a scene designed to look like the set of his television show; they included Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who recently retired as archbishop of New York and was succeeded in February by former Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks.
Throughout the day, clips of Sheen’s broadcasts played on large screens, showcasing his trademark piercing eyes and booming voice. Attendees frequently paused to take selfies with cardboard cutouts of Sheen, dressed in his familiar cassock, cross and flowing ankle-length clerical cape.
Now designated as “Blessed Fulton Sheen,” beatification marks the last major step before Sheen can be declared a saint in the Catholic church.
For decades, he had captivated Catholics and non-Catholics alike through his radio broadcasts and television programs.
Draped in a ferraiolo and cross, the clergyman who became known as “America’s bishop” used a simple chalkboard and scripture on his acclaimed TV show “Life Is Worth Living” to tackle common human struggles like anxiety, sorrow, marriage, parenthood and grief.
Sheen’s unique blend of theology and humor earned him the 1953 Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality, beating out stars of the time like broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, actor Lucille Ball and comedian Jimmy Durante.
Upon acceptance, the cleric raised in the Diocese of Peoria attributed the win to his program’s writers, evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The miracle
A prolific writer and author of more than 60 books, Sheen’s message continued to resonate with his followers for decades after his 1979 death, spurring calls for his canonization.
Then a miracle — the reported healing of a Peoria-area baby born unresponsive and without a pulse for 61 minutes — was attributed to Sheen’s intercession and approved by Pope Francis in 2019, fulfilling a requirement for beatification and paving the way for Sheen’s cause for canonization to move forward.
The mother of that baby, Bonnie Engstrom of Washington, Illinois, was among the faithful celebrating Sheen’s beatification. And that baby — now 16-year-old James Fulton Engstrom — presented a relic of Sheen during the ceremony.
Before the service, Bonnie Engstrom recalled how she and her husband had already planned to name their son after Sheen during her pregnancy, which had been largely uneventful prior to delivery.
They were moved by Sheen’s wit and spirituality while watching his broadcasts on YouTube, feeling particularly close to him because he was born and raised so near their home.
The mother and father frequently prayed for Sheen’s intercession for their son even before the baby’s perilous birth, Engstrom recounted.
“It was so natural at the moment, during the hardest hour of our life, to just naturally fall back and ask for help from the man whom I had already been asking for his help,” Engstrom said at the Dome before Mass. “(Sheen’s) a local boy with hometown pride. Watching Fulton Sheen, watching his videos … he just felt like a loved one.”
The mother said she had prayed for Sheen’s beatification for years.
“To be here now, celebrating and being able to say, ‘Glory to God’ … I don’t have the words,” she added, her voice breaking up a little.
A second miracle will likely have to be attributed to Sheen’s intervention by the Catholic Church before he can become a saint. After beatification, another miracle is typically needed before the candidate is canonized, though popes in the past have sometimes waived that requirement in special circumstances.
Praise from the pope
Pope Leo honored Sheen on the eve of his beatification, calling the faithful to draw inspiration from the renowned broadcaster’s model.
“May the example and intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work through the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the Gospel message with joyful enthusiasm,” the Holy Father said during a papal audience Wednesday at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
The pontiff has recalled being moved by Sheen’s words as a child while growing up in south suburban Dolton, describing him as “a light of faith, hope and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades.”
“I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up,” the pontiff said over the summer during a Vatican audience with the Pontifical Mission Societies. “His broadcasts touched millions with the hope of the Gospel.”
Tumultuous process
Sheen’s cause for canonization has been turbulent at times, including a lengthy court fight over his final resting place, pitting New York church officials against those in Illinois.
This was resolved in 2019, when his remains were transferred from New York and interred in a tomb at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, where Sheen had been ordained a priest in 1919.
A beatification ceremony was initially planned for December 2019. But in an unusual move, the event was delayed by the Vatican amid legal investigation of clergy accused of sexual abuse across the state of New York.
While no accusations of abuse were made against Sheen personally, a bishop in Rochester, New York, raised concerns that further examination was needed to see if Sheen had mishandled any allegations when he served as bishop there in the late 1960s.
Church officials determined Sheen’s record was no longer deemed a reason for postponement, and the Vatican gave the green light for the Diocese of Peoria to resume plans for the beatification ceremony.
Family presence
Born in 1895 on a farm in El Paso, Illinois, Sheen had many extended relatives who attended the beatification, including Dolores Sheen of Peoria, the wife of his late nephew, John Sheen.
She recalled that Sheen used to stay at her home when visiting the Peoria area, and she and her husband would see him in New York. She was struck by how the clergyman who made the cover of Time magazine in 1952 still seemed so modest and unpretentious.
“To me, he was very down-to-earth. Very real. Very humble,” recalled Dolores Sheen, who was born in Gary, Indiana, and now serves as a board member of the nonprofit Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation.
Dolores Sheen, who is of Polish heritage and married into a very Irish American family, would frequently tell Sheen, “God sent me to this family, to help integrate this family.”
“Yes, I think you’re right,” she recalled he would respond and laugh.
When Pope John Paul II was elected in October 1978, marking the first Polish pontiff, she was elated and immediately called Sheen.
“I just knew it was you calling, Dolores,” she recounted him saying. “I’m very excited. This is going to be wonderful.”
About a year later, Pope John Paul II embraced Sheen at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, telling him, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a loyal son of the Church.”
Media guidance, unifying voice
At a time when much of the country is grappling with various new media — from artificial intelligence to social media to disinformation campaigns — some hope Sheen’s work might provide an example of how to navigate burgeoning forms of communication.
“He took the basic fundamentals of the faith … and related it on a level people could understand,” said Sister Mary Jo Sobieck of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield in Illinois, whose own popular social media videos offer spiritual guidance. “He was an academic, but he knew how to bring it to the level of the common, ordinary believer. That’s what makes it profound.”
Sobieck, who became an overnight celebrity after a clip of her throwing a perfect opening pitch at a 2018 White Sox game went viral, was among the faithful attending Sheen’s beatification.
“For those of us in the media age, those of us who are using media with regards to the faith, that’s what we have to do. He’s the perfect model,” added Sobieck, who also threw the ceremonial opening pitch last month at Rate Field during “Pope Hat Night,” a promotion honoring devoted White Sox fan Pope Leo.
Sheen was known for ardently opposing communism and abortion; he was also an early voice against segregation and racial discrimination, long before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.
His range of beliefs and causes might make him appealing to both conservatives and liberals, which could prove unifying at a time when much of the country remains fractured, said Kristy Nabhan-Warren, professor of religious studies and the Figge Chair in Catholic Studies at the University of Iowa.
“Maybe he is the kind of person that folks on both sides of the spectrum can identify with,” Nabhan-Warren said during a phone interview with the Tribune. “Maybe he could be one of those figureheads who can unite people.”
She recalled that her grandmother, a Swedish Lutheran, loved learning from Sheen. At a time when there was still much strife between Catholics and Protestants, he was able to transcend that divide, Nabhan-Warren said.
His work also helped diffuse anti-Catholicism of the era, a time of much backlash against waves of Catholic immigrants in the United States; many scholars believe Sheen’s prominence changed some of those attitudes and even helped pave the way for the nation in 1960 to elect its first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, Nabhan-Warren said.
“There’s a lot of negative news these days about the role of religion in the American landscape,” she said. “We see in the news everyday with some of our elected officials and non-elected officials in D.C. using religion or calling on religion to harm people or justify harmful actions, whether it’s war, whether it’s justifying detaining migrants.”
In contrast, Sheen’s beatification celebrates a leader who used religion to unify and push back against discrimination, Nabhan-Warren said.
“Americans need things to root for,” she added. “It would be nice to see this beatification bringing people together. So maybe this is one of those things that will not only bring Catholics together … but perhaps all Americans.”
