Relic of Archbishop Sheen Heads to St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral acquired a relic in the form of a bone from the left hand of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, which will go on permanent display following a gifting ceremony from the diocese of Peoria, IL on Oct. 1.

Sheen, who spent 15 years as an auxiliary bishop in New York, was recently elevated to “blessed” status in the Catholic Church, a last step before sainthood.

New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks called the gifting of the relic a “homecoming” of sorts.

Transferring a relic to New York is a sign that the once contentious relationship between the Archdiocese of the New York, which initially had Sheen buried in a crypt below St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Diocese of Peoria, IL, his home diocese where Sheen was eventually re-interred, has been smoothed over.

“With gratitude I receive this sacred relic of blessed Fulton J. Sheen in the name of the clergy, religious and faithful of the Archdiocese of New York,” Archbishop Hicks said during a reception Oct. 1.

Archbishop Sheen, a 20th century media powerhouse and author, passed away in 1979. The process to have the popular cleric canonized as a saint began in 2002. But it stalled for three years while the Diocese of Peoria and the Archdiocese fought over his final resting place. Although he was the main bishop in Rochester, NY for three years after he left New York and only an auxiliary bishop during his 15 years of service in New York, his remains had originally been buried in a crypt under St. Patrick’s where many of the church’s cardinals and archbishops are buried. After a three-year court battle, a NY Judge ordered that a request by the Sheen family to move his remains to his home diocese be honored.

He was reinterred there in 2005 and he remains a popular figure A beatification ceremony, marking the third step on the road to sainthood two weeks ago in Peoria, IL, drew over 50,000 people.

A saint needs two miracles to be attributed to him or her to become a saint. The church, which had previously declared Sheen as “venerable” by the time he was reinterred in Peoria, has already attributed one miracle to him for what it was said was helping a stillborn recover life in 2010. If recognized with a second healing, Sheen will become the first American-born bishop to become a Saint and only the fourth American saint.

If he finally becomes a saint, his final resting place will become an shrine and tourist attraction for the faithful. A relic of a saint is also sought out by the faithful.

“May this sacred relic strengthen the faith of all who venerate it, inspire generous discipleship, and draw many to a deeper love of Jesus Christ and his church,” said Bishop Louis Tylk of the Diocese of Peoria at the Oct. 1 ceremony.

Sheen was the National Director of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. Beyond the church, Sheen was a popular author and public personality who became one of the first big religious leaders to garner a national following with a syndicated radio and later tv talk shows. He embraced ecumenicism and famously condemned Joseph Stalin and communism only days before the death of the Soviet dictator. Sheen also drew scrutiny from the FBI after he became one of the early religious leaders to speak out against the Vietnam War.

He hosted a late night radio show “The Catholic Hour” on NBC radio from 1930 to 1950 before a live talk show “Life Is Worth Living“ from 1952 to 1957, which at its peak had a tv audience of 30 million. He later hosted the “The Fulton Sheen Program from 1961 to 1968 where he won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time and Life magazines.