\tMsgr. Stanley Deptula, the executive director of the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, told a June 29 telephone press conference that only God knows whether and when Venerable Fulton Sheen will advance to sainthood.<\/p>\n
\tHowever, the speed of\u00a0Archbishop Sheen\u2019s cause has been \u201cremarkably quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis cause enjoys the support of cardinals and bishops and priests around the world, so much does Fulton Sheen mean in their own lives and own vocations,\u201d the monsignor said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe might be very hopeful that with this level of support, and the importance Fulton Sheen means to the Church in the modern world, we might see that these next steps progress very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tVen. Fulton Sheen\u2019s cause has support from cardinals, bishops and priests around the world because he meant \u201cso much\u201d in their own lives and vocations, Msgr. Deptula explained.<\/p>\n
\tOn June 28 Pope Benedict XVI authorized a decree that recognized the heroic virtues of the beloved host of the \u201cCatholic Hour\u201d radio show and the ABC television show \u201cLife is Worth Living.\u201d Ven. Fulton Sheen authored many books and headed the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. He served as an auxiliary bishop of New York and as Bishop of Rochester.<\/p>\n
\tHe continued to be a leading figure in U.S. Catholicism until his death in 1979 at the age of 84.<\/p>\n
\tHis cause for sainthood was opened in 2002. An authenticated miracle is now needed for Ven. Fulton Sheen to be beatified, the last step before canonization.<\/p>\n
\tMsgr. Deptula said that three \u201cfully documented alleged miracles\u201d attributed to Archbishop Sheen\u2019s intercession have been collected. However, the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Saints asked those presenting his cause, known as \u201cpostulators,\u201d to submit only one case.<\/p>\n
\tThe postulators chose to submit the case of James Fulton Engstrom, a boy born apparently stillborn in September 2010 to Bonnie and Travis Engstrom of the Peoria-area town of Goodfield. The child\u2019s mother and her husband prayed to Archbishop Sheen to heal their son.<\/p>\n
\tAlthough the baby showed no pulse for an hour after his birth, his heart started beating and he escaped serious medical problems.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIf all goes well, that miracle will be presented to the Holy Father for his authentication,\u201d Msgr. Deptula explained. \u201cOnly God works a miracle, but only the Church can authenticate a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill. and several other priests addressed the June 29 press conference.<\/p>\n
\tThe bishop said that Ven. Fulton Sheen \u201cdisplayed virtues that the rest of us can try to imitate.\u201d He was a \u201cpioneer\u201d in using media to proclaim the gospel and preached and taught \u201crelentlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe are so happy that His Holiness has declared Fulton Sheen venerable,\u201d Bishop Jenky said.<\/p>\n
\tAt the start of his priestly life in Peoria, Ven. Fulton Sheen went door to door evangelizing \u201ca dying parish,\u201d powered by his continual prayer life.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHe always believed that the miracle of bringing more people to Christ came from the time spent on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament,\u201d the bishop said.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPerhaps most importantly, he was a man of holiness, of intense daily prayer,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is an example that I believe the Church needs to imitate in these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMsgr. Deptula said Sheen\u2019s example can give Christians guidance on how to better engage the world by \u201cusing every tool at our disposal to bring the eternal and perennial Good News of Jesus Christ to our brothers and sisters today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tVen. Fulton Sheen also dedicated the profits from his books into foreign missions.<\/p>\n
\tFr. Andrew Small, OMI, the current head of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, said that these efforts had brought \u201cgreat fruits\u201d in 1,150 dioceses around the world encompassing half the globe.<\/p>\n
\tSheen\u2019s work has helped create 9,000 clinics, 10,000 orphanages, and 1,200 schools. The institutions his donations support now educate 80,000 seminarians and 9,000 vowed religious.<\/p>\n
\tHe said that Sheen is \u201cbeloved around the world\u201d and very few new possible saints are known as globally as him.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAs Americans that\u2019s something we can be proud of,\u201d said Fr. Small.<\/p>\n
\tFr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, the vice-postulator of\u00a0Archbishop Sheen\u2019s cause, called\u00a0the evangelist\u00a0\u201ca true disciple of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe cited Sheen\u2019s essay \u201cAmerica Needs a Saint\u201d in which the archbishop talked about \u201chaving a homegrown American saint, someone who grew up here in our country, to show that the Church had reached a maturity to produce saints.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tFr. Apostoli recounted: \u201cAs I thought about that, I said to myself \u2018God willing, he\u2019s the saint we need\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBishop Jenky will preside at a Sept 9 thanksgiving Mass at Peoria\u2019s Cathedral of St. Mary.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFulton Sheen plays very well in Peoria,\u201d the bishop said. He reported that the cathedral has been filled at every Mass commemorating the archbishop.<\/p>\n
\tIn response to the Vatican decree, the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation has launched a website about the celebrations at www.celebratesheen.com.<\/a><\/p>\n