ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Laurie Desmarais and her roommate, Lisa Casewell, drove more than 800 miles to St. Louis from their home in Elmira for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification Sept. 24 at the Dome at America’s Center.
“I wasn’t going to miss it,” Desmarais said.
In 2019, Desmarais, a parishioner of Elmira’s Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish, started the ministry PrayersforPriests.com, a weekly listing of Diocese of Rochester priests that people can pray for. Desmarais had name Archbishop Sheen as the ministry’s patron. The site grew globally under his patronage, she said, with people accessing it from almost every continent in the world.
Denis and Cheryl Sweeney, along with Cheryl’s mother, Helen Tenney, traveled to St. Louis from Corning and Horseheads, respectively. When Denis was 10 years old, he wrote then-Bishop Sheen when he was bishop of Rochester. After not hearing back at first, he received a handwritten note from Bishop Sheen on the back of a Catholic Charities meeting agenda, which he still has today. For Tenney, she recalls him as bishop of Rochester and watching him on television.
“It’s a connection,” she said. “At my age, I wanted to be here.”
These attachments to Archbishop Sheen were why Desmarais, Casewell, the Sweeneys and Tenney were among the more than 50,000 people in attendance for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification.
Bishops Bonnici, Matano among bishops processing into Mass of Beatification
The Mass of Beatification began with a more than 30-minute procession that included 89 bishops, 1,000 priests and 260 deacons. The priests and bishops processed in wearing special vestments with the initials JMJ — Jesus, Mary and Joseph — on the back, which were the three letters at the top of Archbishop Sheen’s chalkboard before every broadcast of his award-winning television show, “Life Is Worth Living.”
Among the bishops in the procession were Bishop John S. Bonnici, and Bishop Emeritus Salvatore R. Matano. They were joined by six priests from the Rochester Diocese: Father Aaron Kelly, priest-secretary to Bishop Bonnici; Father Daniel White, pastor of St. Mary and St. Mary and Martha parishes in Auburn and priest-secretary to Bishop Matano; Father Sriram Sadhanala, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Spencerport; Father William “Mickey” McGrath, pastor of Church of the Assumption and Church of the Resurrection in Fairport; Father David Cataline, parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena and Immaculate Conception, Ithaca, and the Cornell University and Ithaca College Catholic Communities; and Father Jeffrey Galens, pastor of Blessed Trinity/St. Patrick in Tioga County. There were also two deacons from the Rochester Diocese: Deacon Michael Kristan of the Cathedral Community, Rochester, and Deacon Ed Knauf of St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry and St. Patrick Church, Victor.
“It was very humbling,” Father Cataline said of being part of the procession. “Just being a part of this great day, it was a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Completing the procession, carrying Archbishop Sheen’s crozier, was Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect in the Holy See’s Dicastery for Evangelization, who presided over the beatification Mass.
Apostolic letter read that declared Archbishop Sheen ‘Blessed’
Following the Penitential Act and the Kyrie Eleison, the Rite of Beatification began with Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Ill., presenting the request for beatification. Then, a short biography of Archbishop Sheen was read by his great-nephew, Paul Cunningham. The biography, which will now live in the Vatican and appear on the Vatican website, mentioned that Archbishop Sheen was named bishop of Rochester in 1966, serving until his retirement in 1969.
Then, Cardinal Tagle and Bishop Tylka read the apostolic letter in Latin and English, respectively, that declared Archbishop Sheen Blessed. The crowd inside the arena broke into applause. At that moment, a painting of Blessed Sheen with a halo around his head was unveiled upon the altar, with the same image uncovered at his tomb at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill. Along with the painting, a covering over the tomb was removed to show the word “blessed.” Both moments in Peoria were livestreamed in St. Louis.
During the song of acclamation and thanksgiving, the relic of Blessed Sheen was processed into the arena by James Fulton Engstrom, the 16-year-old whose miracle birth paved the way for Blessed Sheen’s beatification. Then Cardinal Tagle presented a copy of the decree to Bishop Tylka, family members of Blessed Sheen and other representatives. Since Blessed Sheen was the sixth bishop of Rochester, Bishop Bonnici received a copy of the decree.
Blessed Sheen was a joyful storyteller of Jesus and advocate for the poor
During his homily, Cardinal Tagle imparted greetings from Pope Leo XIV, who rejoiced at the beatification of his fellow countryman, his fellow “Illinoisan,” and brother bishop. Cardinal Tagle then spoke of how Blessed Sheen was a missionary evangelizer who was a “storyteller of Jesus” and who was in “communion with persons and peoples, especially the poor and vulnerable.”
Cardinal Tagle shared a story of how Archbishop Sheen told a friend, who asked why he became a priest, that he was called to share the Gospel, the story of Jesus.
Archbishop Sheen has said, “I never tire of telling it; I never tire of improving my telling of it. I love my calling,” Cardinal Tagle recounted.
Then, Cardinal Tagle spoke of Archbishop Sheen’s address about the poor and vulnerable at the Second Vatican Council in 1964.
“For Archbishop Sheen, caring for the poor was not ideological propaganda, but an imperative for the following of Christ, of the joining of the Church and the missions, and of the conversion inspired by the Holy Spirit,” the cardinal said.
Blessed Sheen called ‘a gift to the whole church’
Before the solemn blessing and dismissal, Bishop Tylka thanked the many prelates involved in the Mass and the representatives from the Pontifical Mission Societies, Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Rochester.
“Your presence today is a beautiful reminder that while Peoria is incredibly proud to call Fulton Sheen one of our own, he is a gift to the whole church,” he remarked.
Bishop Tylka also expressed his gratitude to Archbishop Sheen’s family and the faithful who attended the beatification.
“Fulton Sheen has left us a great legacy,” he said. “He fearlessly proclaimed the Gospel in challenging cultural times. He supported the church’s missions throughout the world. He won tens of thousands of converts and preached to millions. His time of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament was the source of his insight into the Son of God. He used every gift God gave him for one purpose: to bring people to Christ. And his legacy is now ours.”
Before the recessional, everyone joined in a prayer of canonization for Blessed Sheen.
The sheer number of people attending the beatification ‘renews your faith’
Though the pilgrims traveling from the Diocese of Rochester went to the beatification because they felt a connection to Blessed Sheen, they were surprised at the number of pilgrims who traveled from around the world to be part of the historic day.
“It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable how many people would come to this,” Tenney said.
“The impact that he had is a testament to what he brought to the church, and to everyone involved in the Catholic Church,” Denis Sweeney added.
“The commitment and the realization of what this event was and the opportunity they had, and I think the respect for what he (Blessed Sheen) brought us and what we learned from him was phenomenal,” Desmarais commented.
They even noted that many in attendance were young people and families.
“All the Catholic families and the young children that were there, it was amazing to see all those young families,” Casewell said.
“So many young people would be following something like this really renews your faith,” Cheryl Sweeney commented.
Blessed Sheen’s beatification will continue to be celebrated in Rochester this fall
The Rochester Diocese will receive a first-class relic of Blessed Sheen from the Diocese of Peoria Sept. 29. The Mass will be followed by a series of related liturgies at several diocesan parishes this fall. At these Masses, the faithful will have opportunities to view and venerate the relic — a small portion of Archbishop Sheen’s remains — before it is placed on permanent display at the cathedral for further viewing and veneration.
The Sweeneys, Tenney, Desmarais and Casewell are planning to attend the Oct 29 relic Mass at St. Mary Our Mother in Horseheads.
“I think it’s great that the Rochester Diocese is getting one of the relics, so that those that couldn’t make it here will get that to experience,” Denis Sweeney said.
Tags: Bishop John S. Bonnici, Bishop Salvatore R. Matano, Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, Feast Days & Saints
