Television evangelist Archbishop Fulton Sheen will be beatified on September 24, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints announced yesterday. Source: NCR Online.
The beatification will take place in St Louis, Missouri, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelisation, presiding.
On February 9, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, had 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.
In a statement yesterday, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria said the beatification will take place at The Dome at America’s Centre in St Louis.
“With anticipation of a great number of people wanting to participate, we chose this location because of availability, being indoors, and the close proximity to the Diocese of Peoria,” Bishop Tylka said.
He said a “number of events in Peoria” will be held “to celebrate this wonderful occasion”.
“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,” he added. “His life and ministry continue to inspire countless people to know and love Jesus Christ more deeply.”
In February, when it was announced Archbishop Sheen’s beatification would go forward, Bishop Tylka called the prelate “one of the greatest voices of evangelisation in the Church and the world in the 20th century.”
“I have long admired his lifelong commitment to serve the Church as a priest, rooted in his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist,” Bishop Tylka said.
“As he journeyed through the different stages of his life, his ability to share the Gospel and truly relate to people drew countless souls into an encounter with Jesus – one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched.”
Archbishop Sheen is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. Once dubbed “God’s microphone”, Archbishop Sheen announced God’s truth in a nonconfrontational, yet no less life-giving, manner to untold millions through radio, print and television.
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Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Sheen to be ‘a moment of immense grace’ (OSV News via NCR Online)
