Peoria Catholics plan a weekend Mass to mark the next step in an effort to canonize Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Advocates who want Sheen to be made a saint have finished an investigation into a miracle they attribute to the Illinois native, The Pantagraph reports.
They will box and officially seal the investigation during a Mass on Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria. The findings will be sent to the Vatican.
Sheen is entombed in New York, where he spent much of his career and gained national fame for his radio and television commentaries. He was born in 1895 in El Paso, a small town about 30 miles east of Peoria, and grew up in a farm family. He died in 1979.
Believers say Sheen interceded to save the life of a stillborn baby at a Peoria hospital in September 2010.
Sheen is entombed in New York, where he spent much of his career and gained national fame for his radio and television commentaries. He was born in 1895 in El Paso, a small town about 30 miles east of Peoria, and grew up in a farm family. He died in 1979.
Believers say Sheen interceded to save the life of a stillborn baby at a Peoria hospital in September 2010.
"I get goose bumps when something like this happens," said Karen Fulte, the founder and executive of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Spiritual Centre and Communication Room in El Paso. "We continue to believe and we continue to see wonderful things happen, so we always have hope."
Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky presented the Vatican with formal documentation supporting the cause for Sheen's canonization in May. The effort to canonize Sheen has been going on for about a decade.