Sheen beatification confirmed; date and place remain TBD

Beatification of the popular American archbishop has been anticipated for several years

Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka announced Monday that the Vatican has approved the beatification of American Archbishop Fulton Sheen, setting the stage for a beatification Mass later this year.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen. public domain.

While Tylka did not announce when the beatification Mass will take place, sources close to the process have told The Pillar that a September date is likely, and the Mass is likely to take place outside Peoria, the largely rural diocese where Sheen was ordained a priest, and where his canonization cause was initiated.

The Feb. 9 announcement comes after The Pillar reported last month that Sheen’s beatification approval was imminent, and would come ahead of the anticipated retirement of apostolic nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre, which Vatican-watchers expect to see announced within weeks.

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“The Holy See has informed me that the Cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can proceed to Beatification. The next step in the process is the celebration of the Beatification, in which Fulton Sheen would be declared Blessed,” Tylka said in a statement Monday.

“Archbishop Fulton Sheen was one of the greatest voices of evangelization 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. 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,” the bishop added.

“In his later years, particularly through his work for the Missions, Archbishop Sheen helped us recognize that the Church is meant for all people. He reminded us that as members of the Church, we are called to serve everyone, especially those most in need and those longing to hear and experience the Gospel, wherever they may be in the world,” Tylka wrote.

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The announcement of Sheen’s beatification is not the first time the popular American bishop has been set to be beatified — the final step before one is declare a saint in the Church’s canonization process.

Sheen came within three weeks of a scheduled beatification in December 2019, but things were delayed after Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano asked the Vatican to postpone the process, over concerns that Sheen — who served as Rochester’s diocesan bishop from 1966 to 1969 — might be accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse or misconduct.

At specific issue was Gerard Guli, a former Rochester priest, who was accused of abusing adults in the early 1960s — before Sheen arrived in the diocese — and who reportedly asked Sheen for an assignment in 1967.

Msgr. James Kruse, then-director of canonical affairs in the Diocese of Peoria, told Catholic News Agency in 2019 that Sheen never assigned Guli to ministry, even while his successor, Bishop Joseph Hogan, did.

“The documents clearly show that Sheen’s successor, Bishop Hogan, appointed Guli, and it’s at that assignment that Guli offended again,” Kruse said in 2019.

Kruse added that he had spoken with Guli — still living in 2019 — and that the man had confirmed Sheen had not given him an assignment.

“It’s [Bishop] Hogan who appointed Guli to the parishes in the towns of Campbell and Bradford where Guli offended, and it’s part of the reason that led to his ultimate removal and laicization, as well as other issues,” Kruse said.

In 1989 — a decade after Sheen died — Guli was arrested for an incident of abuse involving an elderly woman, and eventually laicized.

In addition to the Guli case, there was also concern among some officials that there might be raised in New York new allegations against Sheen during the Child Victims Act litigation window, which is now closed. The Pillar has confirmed that no allegations were filed against Sheen during the litigation window.

There was also the possibility that Sheen might face allegations in the context of an attorney general’s probe into the handling of sexual abuse by New York’s dioceses. The probe was launched in 2018, but has since gone dormant, and sources close to that probe have told The Pillar that there are no new or unresolved allegations against Sheen in the attorney general’s files.

Sources say the resolution of Rochester’s own bankruptcy proceedings, and the September 2025 approval of a settlement worth roughly $250 million, was the final straw remaining before the Apostolic See would again move forward with the Sheen beatification.

Last May, the Bishop of Peoria, Illinois, where Sheen was ordained a priest in 1919, told local reporters that he hoped the newly elected Pope Leo XIV would “move forward and move beyond the pause … to the beatification of Fulton Sheen.”

“We believe that some day the church will indeed catch up with Fulton Sheen, meaning that the church will canonize him,” Bishop Louis Tylka added, in an interview with Peoria’s WMBD-TV.

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Pope Francis approved in July 2019 a miracle attributed to Sheen, and set December 21, 2019, as the date for the bishop’s prospective canonization.

The miracle was the unexpected recovery of a baby born stillborn in 2010, who was miraculously revived, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints concluded, after his parents prayed that Sheen would intercede for their son.

Sheen was ordained a priest in 1919, became a professor at The Catholic University of America, and then a radio host, hosting “The Catholic Hour” on NBC Radio from 1930 until 1950. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1951 and soon after moved into television, hosting “Life is Worth Living” from 1952 until 1957 and “The Fulton Sheen Program” from 1961 until 1968.

Sheen won an Emmy award for his television work.

He became Bishop of Rochester in 1966 and remained in that office until 1969. After his retirement, Pope Paul VI named him a titular archbishop.

Sheen died in 1979, and was initially buried in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. After a protracted legal battle, Sheen’s remains were moved to Peoria.

The Diocese of Peoria opened the cause for Sheen’s canonization in 2002. Peoria’s Bishop Tylka is widely expected to play a key role in the liturgy at which Sheen is officially declared beatified.

In his statement Monday, Tylka said his staff is “working with the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican to determine the details for the upcoming Beatification,” including the date and location.

Sources close to the process have emphasized to The Pillar that a September date is generally expected, and that the location will be determined with consideration of the number of pilgrims expected to attend.

More than 70,000 people attended the 2017 beatification of Blessed Solanus Casey in Detroit, while roughly 20,000 attended the beatification of Blessed Stanley Rother in the same year. Given Sheen’s immense national popularity, the number of U.S. Catholics attempting to attend his beatification Mass could be considerably more.

There has been some speculation that the beatification Mass could be held in St. Louis, Missouri, which would have both larger venues and infrastructure for the accommodation of pilgrims to the beatification Mass.