Nearly 45,000 pilgrims expected for Fulton Sheen beatification as tickets remain available

Nearly 45,000 pilgrims are expected to attend Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Sept. 24 beatification in St. Louis, and tickets are still available.Pilgrims are expected from 48 states and 12 countries, with 83 bishops and more than 870 priests registered to participate, according to a Sept. 9 release from the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois.

Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka encouraged Catholics still considering the pilgrimage to take part.

“This is much more than a single celebration,” Bishop Tylka said. “It is an invitation to encounter Jesus Christ through the extraordinary witness of Archbishop Sheen. We are preparing to welcome pilgrims in Peoria and St. Louis from across our country and around the world, and I encourage anyone considering making this pilgrimage to join us. This is a moment in the life of the Church that we will remember for generations.”

Events will begin Sept. 15 in Peoria with a novena of holy hours before moving to St. Louis for the beatification.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, will represent Pope Leo XIV at the beatification and celebrate the 2 p.m. CDT Mass at The Dome at America’s Center.

The pre-Mass “Celebrate Sheen” show will combine musical performances with personal accounts and talks on the archbishop’s faith and enduring influence.

Participants will include Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop emeritus of New York; Sister Josephine Garrett, an author and counselor; Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States; Catholic radio host Katie Prejean McGrady; and musician Matt Maher.

The day will also include Eucharistic adoration, confession, and the Sheen Expo, which will bring together Catholic ministries, artists, and exhibitors.

The expo will feature an interactive Shroud of Turin exhibit with a life-size replica of the cloth and displays on the Passion of Christ.

After the ceremony, pilgrims will have an opportunity to venerate a relic of the newly beatified archbishop.

The celebrations will return to Peoria on Sept. 25 and 26 for Masses of Thanksgiving, parish talks, the inaugural Sheen Awards, and a festival featuring Catholic organizations, artists, and musicians.

Through his preaching, writing, and pioneering work in radio and television, Ven. Sheen became one of the most recognizable Catholic figures of the 20th century, as Zeale News previously reported. His Emmy Award-winning program “Life Is Worth Living” brought Catholic teaching to millions of American homes. Ven. Sheen’s cause advanced after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to his intercession in 2019. His beatification was planned for that year and then called off temporarily. The Holy See confirmed in February that the beatification could proceed.

More information on the beatification is available here.