Catholic Media Pioneer Fulton Sheen Declared Blessed at Beatification Led by Cardinal Tagle

American Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, a theologian, evangelizer, teacher, preacher and pioneer in Catholic radio and television ministry, was declared Blessed on September 24 at a beatification Mass in St. Louis, Missouri, with Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle serving as papal delegate.

Cardinal Tagle, pro-prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Evangelization, formally proclaimed the Church’s declaration on Archbishop Sheen’s life and witness during the Mass at The Dome at America’s Center. About 50,000 people attended the celebration, according to organizers, as pilgrims gathered from across the United States and elsewhere, The Catholic Weekly reported.

The venue was selected by the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, Archbishop Sheen’s home diocese, to accommodate the large number of pilgrims attending the beatification and related events.

The beatification took place between the Penitential Rite and the Gloria. Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria formally requested Archbishop Sheen’s beatification from Cardinal Tagle, after which a brief biography was read and the decree of beatification issued by Pope Leo XIV was proclaimed. With the public proclamation of the decree, Archbishop Sheen was formally counted among the Church’s “blessed.”

The beatification has particular significance for Catholics involved in evangelization and communications in Asia, where radio, television and digital media have become important means of sharing the Gospel across large and diverse populations.

Archbishop Sheen became widely known in the United States through radio and television, first through The Catholic Hour and later through his Emmy-winning program Life Is Worth Living. His television program, which ran from 1952 to 1957, reached millions of viewers, including many who were not Catholic, according to The Catholic Weekly.

In a Sept. 20 Mass marking the anniversary of Archbishop Sheen’s priestly ordination, Filipino-born Fr. Peter James Alindogan, pastor of St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, described Sheen as a pioneer of Catholic media and a master communicator.

Fr. Alindogan said the key to Sheen’s effectiveness was not television or microphones but his daily Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. “Before Sheen spoke to millions, he sat silently before our blessed Lord,” he said, according to The Catholic Weekly.

Cardinal Tagle also highlighted the spiritual dimension of Sheen’s life during a Sept. 22 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, where the archbishop’s remains are entombed. The cardinal encouraged Catholics to follow Sheen’s missionary orientation, attentiveness to the Word of God and readiness to act on it.

The beatification followed the recognition of a miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession. James Fulton Engstrom, whose revival following a stillbirth in 2010 was recognized as the miracle, presented a major relic of the new Blessed during the ceremony.

The relic, Archbishop Sheen’s mandible, or jawbone, was placed in a reliquary. It was chosen to represent his gifts as an orator, teacher and evangelizer.

A portrait of Blessed Fulton Sheen was also unveiled during the celebration. The image shows him holding a piece of chalk, recalling his familiar use of a blackboard during Life Is Worth Living.

Born in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895, Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria in 1919. He later taught philosophy, became a prolific author and radio and television preacher, served as national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, and was an auxiliary bishop of New York and Bishop of Rochester. He died in 1979 at age 84. Pope Benedict XVI declared him Venerable in 2012 after recognizing his heroic virtue, while Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to his intercession in 2019, according to The Catholic Weekly.

Cardinal Tagle, who is from the Philippines and is Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, presided at the beatification on behalf of Pope Leo XIV. His role also connected the celebration in the United States with the Church in Asia, where Catholic communicators continue to explore new ways of using media to proclaim the Gospel.