The late American Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified at a Mass presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, Missouri, according to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov and Robin Gomes Venerable Fulton J. Sheen of the United States is set to be beatified on Thursday, September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, Missouri. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, will preside at the beatification Mass, representing Pope Leo XIV. After his heroic virtue was recognized, Fulton Sheen was declared Venerable in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2019, Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing a miracle through his intercession. This recognition cleared Archbishop Sheen for beatification, after which he will have the title "Blessed." The future Blessed Fulton Sheen was known for his dynamic preaching, especially on television and radio. Born to an Irish family in El Paso, Illinois, on May 8, 1895, Sheen discovered his call to the priesthood at the age of 24 and was ordained a priest in 1919. He pursued higher studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington (US), the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He returned to the U.S. in 1926 and began teaching at the Catholic University of America, a position he held until 1950. Sheen served as the Bishop of Rochester, New York, from 1951 to 1969, and Pope Paul VI later appointed him as the Titular Archbishop of Newport, Wales, in 1969. A gifted teacher and speaker, Sheen’s homilies were much appreciated. In 1930, he began participating in the Sunday radio program entitled “The Catholic Hour," which reached an estimated four million listeners at the height of its popularity. In 1951, he began hosting a weekly television series, “Life is Worth Living," on matters of faith that attracted some 30 million viewers. He died in New York at the age of 84, on December 9, 1979.