Fulton J. Sheen Beatified at St. Louis Mass

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was declared blessed at a beatification Mass in St. Louis on September 24, after Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle proclaimed an apostolic letter from Pope Leo XIV. The ceremony formally recognized Sheen’s beatification, a step short of canonization, and established December 9, the anniversary of his death, as his feast day. The Mass was held at The Dome at America’s Center. Organizers estimated that about 50,000 people attended; the figure was an estimate, not an independently confirmed count. The venue was selected to accommodate the large turnout for the beatification and related events. Tagle, the pope’s representative at the ceremony, proclaimed the decree in Latin. Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, then read it in English. A portrait of Sheen with a halo was unveiled during the Mass and simultaneously at his tomb in Peoria. Sheen, born in Illinois in 1895 and ordained a priest in 1919, died in 1979. In his homily, Tagle highlighted Sheen’s missionary work and concern for poor and vulnerable people. He described Sheen as an evangelizer who directed converts toward the Church rather than claiming them for himself.