FAQ

  • Members of the Fulton Sheen Foundation and subscribers to the Foundation newsletter will be notified when tickets are available. If you wish to subscribe to the Foundation newsletter, please sign up online at celebratesheen.com

  • The Fulton Sheen Foundation and the Diocese of Peoria will arrange to broadcast the Beatification ceremony both on television and streaming on the internet. The Beatification ceremony will be accessible worldwide. More information will be available as the date approaches.

  • September 24th is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.  Archbishop Sheen often spoke of his love for the Blessed Mother and his desire to die on a feast associated with Our Lady.  It is fitting that his Beatification will take place on a date connected with Mary.

     

    The announcement of his Beatification also fell on a major solemnity of the Blessed Mother:  the Annunciation, March 25th.  As the Church recalled the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary about the birth of Our Lord, we were also privileged to announce the good news that Archbishop Sheen would be raised to the rank of the Blessed.

beatification questions

  • Beatification is a ceremony at which the title of Blessed is granted to a Servant of God.  Blessed are recognized by the Catholic Church for their martyrdom or their holiness of life and intercessory power through graces, favors, or miracles that are granted by God.

  • Canonization is the ceremony celebrated by the Pope at which the title of Saint is granted to a Blessed.  Saints are recognized universally by the Catholic Church as models of holiness to be imitated.  They are also intercessors who pray for us to God.

  • The Pope alone has the power to declare someone a Blessed or a Saint.  According to the current practice, the Pope orders the Beatification which is carried out by the Cardinal Prefect of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints in the place where the Cause of the Servant of God was studied.

  • The Pope is assisted by the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints which is part of the Roman Curia.  Requests to begin a Cause come from around the world.  Individual Bishops study the life or miracles attributed to an individual Servant of God and forward the results of their investigations to the Dicastery for study.

  • The laity generally manifests the common opinion about the holiness of a particular person.  The request is made to the local Bishop of the place where the person died.  If the Bishop thinks the Cause is worthy, he initiates the Cause and begins a diocesan inquiry into the martyrdom or life and virtues of the person.  At this stage, the person is called Servant of God.

    The diocesan inquiry is studied by the Congregation of the Causes of Saints.  If it is proven that the Servant of God practiced a life of heroic virtue, the Pope decrees the person to be Venerable.  He or she is then called the Venerable Servant of God.

    If it is proven that a Servant of God was a true martyr, after the diocesan inquiry and the study of the Congregation, the Pope decrees the person to be recognized as a martyr, after which he or she can be beatified.

    For a Venerable Servant of God who was not a martyr, one proven miracle is necessary.  After an alleged miracle is investigated by the local bishop and studied by the Congregation, the Pope can recognize the miracle by decree, after which the person may be beatified.

    The Cause does not end with Beatification.  It is important to continue to pray for an additional miracle, occurring after the Beatification, which can lead to Canonization.  Saints are Canonized by the Holy Father in a ceremony generally celebrated at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

  • God grants us grace to live a life of holiness according to his will.  Saints are those who respond to the grace of God in an extraordinary way.  Responding to God’s initiative, Saints are those who live lives of great and heroic virtue.  They are sure examples of holiness for us to imitate.  Their closeness to God also makes them powerful intercessors who we ask to pray for us before the Lord.  God manifests his desire that the Saints be honored and revered by granting graces, favors, and miracles through their intercession.

  • Some honors are reserved only to those who have been Beatified or Canonized by the Church, but not to those Servants of God who have not yet been Beatified.

    After Beatification, Mass and the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) may be celebrated in honor of the Blessed, especially on the assigned feast day.  An altar can be constructed over or near the tomb.  Churches and chapels can be dedicated in the name of the Blessed.  Relics can be displayed for public veneration.  An image of the Blessed can be displayed with a halo or with the light of heavenly glory.  Books regarding miracles, graces, or revelations attributed to the Blessed may be published.  Votive candles can be lit at the tomb, which can also be marked by memorials of graces or favors received through the intercession of the Blessed.

    Before Beatification, public veneration of the Servant of God is not allowed, but the faithful may freely come to privately venerate the tomb of the Servant of God by coming to pray.

    The tomb of the Venerable Servant of God is not under or in front of any altar at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria.  The tomb is in front of an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

  • St. John Paul II performed many Beatifications personally in Rome.  After Benedict XVI was elected, he returned to the previous practice of allowing Beatifications to be celebrated locally in the diocese where the Cause was instructed.

    Cardinal Angelo Amato, the former Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints celebrated three Beatifications in the United States.  In 2014, Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich was Beatified in Newark.  In 2017, Blessed Stanley Rother and Blessed Solanus Casey were Beatified in Oklahoma City and Detroit, respectively. Cardinal Joseph Tobin celebrated the Beatification of Blessed Michael McGivney in 2020 in Hartford.

  • Beatification is an authorization to honor a Blessed and celebrate their liturgical feast days in a local territory.  Blesseds are not universally honored or celebrated until they are canonized.  For Fulton Sheen, the authorized territory is limited to the Diocese of Peoria.  Other Dioceses and other territories can petition the Dicastery for Divine Worship to also be granted the authorization to honor Fulton Sheen.

Theological Questions

  • In 2010, in central Illinois, a newborn infant was born showing no signs of life. This absence of vital signs lasted for sixty-one minutes. Family and friends immediately began offering prayers begging Fulton Sheen to intercede for their newborn child. The infant was transferred to OSF Medical Center in Peoria, a few blocks away from the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria where Sheen was ordained in 1919 and now is entombed.

    Despite receiving the most advanced medical treatment available, the infant continued to show no signs of life. Moments before the doctor was going to declare the infant to be dead, suddenly and without any medical explanation, the infant’s heart began to beat normally and the baby breathed normally. After sixty-one minutes without a heartbeat, the baby was alive! After a few weeks in the hospital, the infant was sent home and has now grown into a healthy young child.

    This miracle attributed to Sheen has been unanimously approved by doctors, theologians, and cardinals in the Congregation of the Causes of Saints and was officially recognized by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, on July 6, 2019.

  • Feast days of Blesseds and Saints are generally celebrated on the date of earthly death, which is also the birth of the Blessed or Saint into Eternal Life.  Fulton Sheen died on December 9, 1979.  The Congregation for Divine Worship has approved December 9 for the celebration of the Fulton Sheen.  This date coincides with the optional memorial of St. Juan Diego.

    This optional memorial may be celebrated only in the Diocese of Peoria.  With the permission of the Congregation for Divine Worship, the permission to celebrate this optional memorial can be extended to other dioceses.

  • The Foundation is currently receiving a large number of requests for second-class relics which we are working to accommodate. Click here for more information.

    The Foundation First-class relics will only be made available to Catholic ecclesiastical institutions (parishes, religious orders, seminaries, etc.) after the Beatification takes place.  Once they are available, detailed instructions about the required documentation will be posted on the Foundation website.

  • The primary website for the Cause of Fulton Sheen is celebratesheen.com.
    Email:  info@celebratesheen.com.

    Please submit your additional questions to info@celebratesheen.com.

    The mailing address for the Beatification and the Foundation is 419 NE Madison Ave, Peoria, IL  61603.  The phone number for Beatification and Foundation questions is 1-877-71SHEEN (1-877-717-4336).

OTHER Questions

  • Prior to the Beatification, it is not permitted to celebrate Mass over the tomb.  Following the Beatification, requests may be submitted to celebrate Mass at the tomb located in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral.

    Mass may also be celebrated at the main altar or in the St. Thomas More Chapel.  On Fridays, only the main altar is available.  Masses during regular open hours must be celebrated in the St. Thomas More Chapel.

    The Lady Chapel at the tomb and the St. Thomas More Chapel can accommodate approximately 30 persons.  Masses for larger groups will be schedule at the main altar. For more information, please direct all Mass requests to the Director of Divine Worship, Phil Lee (plee@cdop.org), at least one week in advance of the desired date.

  • The Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception is open daily to the public according to the schedule published on celebratesheen.com.

  • The tomb of Archbishop Sheen is located in the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, 607 NE Madison Ave, Peoria, Illinois.  https://www.celebratesheen.com/tomb.  The Cathedral is open daily according to the posted schedule.

    The Sheen Museum is located in the Spalding Pastoral Center, 419 NE Madison Ave, Peoria, Illinois.  Phone 309-671-1550.  https://www.celebratesheen.com/museum. 

    St. Mary Cemetery, 421 N Sterling Ave, West Peoria, IL.  Burial place of Newton Sheen (1863-1944) and Delia (Fulton) Sheen (1864-1943), parents of Archbishop Sheen.  Sheen’s parents are buried in Section C, the first major section on the right when entering the cemetery.

  • Sacred Heart Church is located next to the Civic Center at 504 Fulton St, Peoria, Illinois.  Phone 309-682-5823.  Web http://www.catholicpeoria.com/sacred-heart.  Sacred Heart Church has been beautifully renovated with images of American Blesseds and Saints around the perimeter of the church.

    St. Joseph Church is located at 103 Richard Pryor Pl, Peoria, Illinois.  Phone 309-682-5823.  Web http://www.catholicpeoria.com/St-Joseph.  Father Fulton Sheen served at the former St. Patrick Church, Peoria, Illinois.  Although St. Patrick Church no longer exists, St. Joseph serves the Catholics in the same part of Peoria as the Venerable Servant of God.

    Archbishop Sheen was baptized at St. Mary Church in El Paso about 45 minutes east of Peoria: 79 W Third St, El Paso, Illinois.  Archbishop Sheen’s birth house no longer exists, but there is a marker where it stood at 25 W Front St, El Paso, Illinois.

Peoria Questions