The Holy Father prays that many others might find, like Blessed Sheen did, "new ways of spreading the Gospel message."
In greetings to English-speaking pilgrims at the end of the general audience on September 23, Pope Leo mentioned the upcoming beatification of a fellow American bishop: Fulton Sheen.
Tomorrow in Saint Louis, Missouri, Venerable Fulton Sheen will be beatified. May the example and intercession of this holy bishop, known for his evangelizing work through the media, inspire many others likewise to find new ways of spreading the Gospel message with joyful enthusiasm.
Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the peace and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!
The beatification falls on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, a fitting date for the archbishop known for his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother.
While Archbishop Sheen is buried in Peoria, Illinois, the Beatification Mass will be held in St. Louis as the venue can accommodate a large number of attendees indoors and is in close proximity to the Diocese of Peoria. Cardinal Luis Tagle will preside at the Mass as Pope Leo XIV's representative.
Aleteia will be there, and you can follow events of the canonization on our Instagram and Facebook pages, as well as at aleteia.org.
Also get to know Fulton Sheen at our dedicated page here.
With Blessed Sheen
Let us prayerfully consider the call to evangelize as expressed by the Catechism:
3 Those who with God's help have welcomed Christ's call and freely responded to it are urged on by love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ's faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.
