Sheen Beatification Scheduled for September 24 in St. Louis

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification was scheduled for September 24 in St. Louis, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle set to preside as Pope Leo XIV’s representative. The reports available before the ceremony confirmed the plans but did not establish that the Mass took place. Pope Leo referred to the planned beatification during a September 23 greeting to English-speaking pilgrims, saying Sheen would be beatified the next day. The Mass was scheduled for 2 p.m. at The Dome at America’s Center, which organizers expected could accommodate a large crowd. One advance estimate put attendance at about 50,000 people from 12 countries and 48 states; that figure was a projection, not a confirmed turnout. Tagle, a pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, was also in Peoria, Illinois, Sheen’s home diocese, on September 22. In a homily at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, where Sheen’s remains are entombed, Tagle described the beatification as both a grace and a responsibility for local Catholics. He urged them to listen to the Word of God and act on it, drawing on readings from Proverbs and the Gospel of Luke.