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Pope Leo XIV Receives Fulton Sheen Relic from Peoria Bishop
Confirmed
In Short: Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of Blessed Fulton Sheen during a Vatican audience, highlighting the pontiff's personal interest in the late archbishop.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of the recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen during a private audience at the Vatican on October 5. The meeting was an opportunity for Tylka to update the pope on the Church in the United States, as Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokesperson, told OSV News.
For Tylka, the moment was particularly significant given Pope Leo's personal connection to Sheen. 'To place a relic of this son of the Diocese of Peoria into the hands of the first American pope, both of whom are from Illinois, was an especially moving moment,' Tylka said in a statement following the papal audience.
Pope Leo XIV expressed his fondness for Sheen, recalling his childhood memories of watching the archbishop on television. 'I felt that Archbishop Sheen was with us in spirit when greeting Pope Leo,' said Msgr. Jason Gray, executive director of the Peoria-based Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, who also attended the audience.
The pope's interest in Sheen was evident in his remarks. 'The Holy Father's own interest in Archbishop Sheen reminds us that his witness continues to speak to the Church today and challenges all of us to proclaim the Gospel with the same conviction and joy,' Archbishop Thomas G. Coakley added.
The audience took place during Pope Leo's first private meeting of the day with U.S. bishops. Coakley will also participate in the Oct. 7-14 meeting on marriage and family convened by Pope Leo, titled 'Ten Years After 'Amoris Laetitia': Proclaiming the Gospel With Families Today.'
The beatification of Fulton Sheen, which took place in St. Louis, was a significant event for the Church. Cardinal Tagle read an apostolic letter in Latin, followed by Bishop Tylka in English, officially granting Sheen the title 'blessed.' The Engstrom family, whose miraculous healing of James Fulton Engstrom was the verified miracle required for Sheen's beatification, presented a reliquary containing Sheen's relic.
Bishop Tylka expressed his gratitude for the permission to celebrate the beatification, noting that Sheen's witness was not just about his celebrity status but his commitment to the Gospel and mission work. 'We are grateful for the heroic witness of this great evangelist, who dedicated his life to the proclamation of the Gospel and the support of the missions,' Tylka said.
The Mass of thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Tylka at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria marked the culmination of Sheen's beatification process, with video displays showing Sheen's tomb and a short biography read by his great-nephew Paul Cunningham.
What this adds
The event underscores the ongoing legacy of Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the personal connection Pope Leo XIV has with his work.
Background
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of Blessed Fulton Sheen during a Vatican audience.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria, Illinois, following Archbishop Fulton Sheen's beatification in St. Louis.
What's confirmed
- "To place a relic of this son of the Diocese of Peoria into the hands of the first American pope, both of whom are from Illinois, was an especially moving moment," Bishop Tylka said in a statement following the papal audience.
- Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokesperson, told OSV News that the meeting was an opportunity to update Pope Leo on the Church in the United States.
- "The USCCB is grateful for the opportunities that our bishops have to spend time with our Holy Father and assure him of our support and prayers," she said.
- While in Rome, Archbishop Coakley will participate in the Oct. 7-14 meeting on marriage and family convened by Pope Leo, who called the heads of national bishops' conferences worldwide as well as the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches to the event, titled "Ten Years After 'Amoris Laetitia': Proclaiming the Gospel With Families Today."
- VATICAN CITY (OSV News) -- Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of the recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen during a private audience at the Vatican Oct.
- The pope also received 75-year-old Archbishop Thomas G.
- For the bishop of Peoria, the opportunity to give the Chicago-born pope the relic was "a profound joy and privilege," especially because of Pope Leo's personal interest in Blessed Fulton Sheen, who was beatified in St.
- "The Holy Father's own interest in Archbishop Sheen reminds us that his witness continues to speak to the Church today and challenges all of us to proclaim the Gospel with the same conviction and joy," the archbishop added.
- Jason Gray, the executive director of the Peoria-based Archbishop Fulton J.
- Sheen Foundation, also took part in the papal audience.
- "I felt that Archbishop Sheen was with us in spirit when greeting Pope Leo," Msgr.
- "I am grateful that Pope Leo spoke so fondly of Archbishop Sheen, whom he remembered watching when he was young." Pope Leo has previously praised Blessed Fulton Sheen as "a light of faith, hope and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades," as his broadcasts brought the Gospel to millions of Americans.
What's still developing
- Blessed Sheen showed this both in his advocacy for people in poverty in the U.S. and also through his commitment to mission work around the globe — not just dedicating time and resources to those in need, but also spending time with people with leprosy in Uganda, Cardinal Tagle said.
- “First, the missionary evangelizer is truly blessed, fortunate and happy because of the gift of communion with Jesus,” Cardinal Tagle said.
- “The second aspect of blessedness of a missionary evangelizer is this: the missionary evangelizer is blessed by the communion with persons and peoples, especially the poor and the vulnerable, and this is communion in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said.
- “Blessed is the evangelizer converted by beholding and touching the wounds of the risen Christ in wounded brothers and sisters,” he said.
- “Above all, thanks be to God. It is through His providence that we have been brought to this historic moment,” he said.