Cause for beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen makes progress

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was the first Catholic TV star. (OK, there was Ed Sullivan, but we're talking about a Catholic clergyman!) His programme, Life Is Worth Living, began in 1951 and attracted millions of viewers in prime time. At one time the most popular programme on American TV, it can still be seen in reruns and on YouTube.

In October of 1979, two months before the prelate's death, Pope John Paul II visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and embraced him, saying, "You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a loyal son of the Church." And so he was.

In due course a cause for Archbishop Sheen's canonization was opened. Yesterday the President of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, Most Rev. Daniel Jenky, Bishop of Peoria, announced that a team of medical experts has verified the authenticity of a miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen's intercession. This moves the beloved preacher a step closer to beatification.

The panel of experts, appointed by the Vatican, found no medical explanation for the case of a child who was restored to life after being stillborn. Medical personnel had tried for an hour to revive the child, without success, while the parents prayed for the intercession of Archbishop Sheen. The child, born in September 2010, is now a healthy 3-year-old.

The reported miracle will now be examined by a team of theologians. If they approve, it will then be submitted to the entire Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The final approval of the miracle would fulfill the last requirement for the beatification of Cardinal Sheen, who was proclaimed “Venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in June 2012.

Click here to visit a website which includes links to 48 audio files (MP3) of Archbishop Sheen's teachings on Life is Worth Living. Younger Catholics raised on the wishy-washy catechism which followed Vatican II should hear these clear and powerful statements of the True Faith, the traditional Faith of Our Fathers.

Finally, Walt offers one -- just one -- of the many talks by Archbishop Sheen which you can find on YouTube. This is one of the later ones, not a recording of the TV show, although there are plenty of those too. Since we are just beginning Lent, it will do us good -- you and me -- to listen to this reflection on sin, guilt and the Sacrament of Confession. (There's no such sacrament in the modern Church. Now they call it "reconciliation" and nobody talks about it much because it makes us feel... well... you know... kind of guilty.)