50,000 expected at Fulton Sheen beatification in St. Louis
Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification will open a new chapter in the Catholic media pioneer’s legacy, with celebrations and long-term projects planned in Peoria.
An estimated 50,000 people are expected to attend Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Sept. 24 beatification Mass in St. Louis, Missouri, where he will become the first U.S.-born bishop to be declared Blessed.
Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka discussed the expected turnout for the historic liturgy and the earlier decision to move it from Peoria in a Sept. 15 interview with WCBU Reports, a program from Peoria’s public radio station, published by NPR Illinois.
“Normally, a beatification is done in the local diocese, but Sheen is not just for Peoria, but for the world, and that is why we moved the Mass to St. Louis,” Bishop Tylka told WCBU Reports.
The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis also offered the space needed to welcome the tens of thousands expected to attend, as Zeale News previously reported.
Celebrations will continue the following day in Peoria with the inaugural Sheen Awards at the Peoria Civic Center. Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Bishop Robert Barron, and “The Chosen” actor Jonathan Roumie are among the special guests expected to attend.
Peoria is also preparing to carry Archbishop Sheen’s legacy into the years ahead through the Sheen Experience under development at the Spalding Institute, Sheen’s former high school. Zeale News previously reported that a hologram experience featuring his image and recorded words is expected to open in September as an early part of the project.
The full museum is expected to open within two to three years and will include a replica of Archbishop Sheen’s television set. Organizers also plan to use the building as a studio for creating new content and studying his life and work.
After Archbishop Sheen is beatified, his canonization would require the Church to recognize one additional miracle attributed to his intercession. Monsignor Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, previously told Zeale News that five reported miracles have emerged as potential leads for advancing his cause.
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