TV priest Fulton Sheen moves closer to sainthood after miracle ruling

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the mid-20th-century broadcaster who brought Catholic teaching into American living rooms, will be declared "Blessed" on September 24 in St. Louis, a key step toward sainthood. The ceremony follows the Vatican's recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession: the 2010 resuscitation of a baby boy born without a pulse in central Illinois.

Bonnie Engstrom, the boy's mother, had begun praying for Sheen's help during her pregnancy after discovering his old broadcasts online. When her son James was born unresponsive, doctors worked for an extended period before detecting a faint heartbeat. The attending neonatologist, Dr. Juanita Aguila-Corrales, called the recovery miraculous. James, now a healthy teenager, will carry a relic of Sheen at the beatification Mass.

Sheen, who died in 1979, was a household name in the 1950s with his show "Life is Worth Living," where he used a chalkboard to deliver moral lessons that competed with popular entertainers of the era. He also served as a bishop in New York and spoke at the Second Vatican Council. His remains were moved from New York to Peoria, Illinois, in 2019 after a court battle, and his tomb has become a pilgrimage site.

The path to beatification was delayed in 2019 due to legal investigations into priest abuse oversight in New York, but church officials later cleared the way. Pope Leo XIV, himself a native of Illinois, approved the beatification in February. Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria noted that five potential miracles are being investigated for the next step, canonization.

Devotees from across the U.S. and Canada, including families who named children after Sheen, plan to attend the ceremony. The Sheen Foundation is also expanding a museum in Peoria, celebrating the archbishop's enduring legacy.