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<\/a>Archbishop Fulton Sheen. public domain.<\/p>\nWhile 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.<\/p>\n
The Feb. 9 announcement comes after The Pillar <\/a>reported last month<\/a> that Sheen\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cArchbishop 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\u2014one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched,\u201d the bishop added.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 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,\u201d Tylka wrote.<\/p>\n \u2014 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 \u2014 who served as Rochester\u2019s diocesan bishop from 1966 to 1969 \u2014 might be accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse or misconduct.<\/p>\n At specific issue was Gerard Guli, a former Rochester priest, who was accused of abusing adults in the early 1960s \u2014 before Sheen arrived in the diocese \u2014 and who reportedly asked Sheen for an assignment in 1967.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe documents clearly show that Sheen\u2019s successor, Bishop Hogan, appointed Guli, and it\u2019s at that assignment that Guli offended again,\u201d Kruse said in 2019.<\/p>\n Kruse added that he had spoken with Guli \u2014 still living in 2019 \u2014 and that the man had confirmed Sheen had not given him an assignment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s [Bishop] Hogan who appointed Guli to the parishes in the towns of Campbell and Bradford where Guli offended, and it\u2019s part of the reason that led to his ultimate removal and laicization, as well as other issues,\u201d Kruse said.<\/p>\n In 1989 \u2014 a decade after Sheen died \u2014 Guli was arrested for an incident of abuse involving an elderly woman, and eventually laicized.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n There was also the possibility that Sheen might face allegations in the context of an attorney general\u2019s probe into the handling of sexual abuse by New York\u2019s 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\u2019s files.<\/p>\n Sources say the resolution of Rochester\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cmove forward and move beyond the pause \u2026 to the beatification of Fulton Sheen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that some day the church will indeed catch up with Fulton Sheen, meaning that the church will canonize him,\u201d Bishop Louis Tylka added, in an interview with Peoria\u2019s WMBD-TV.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Tylka said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n
The announcement of Sheen\u2019s beatification is not the first time the popular American bishop has been set to be beatified \u2014 the final step before one is declare a saint in the Church\u2019s canonization process.<\/p>\n