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Posted on 07/24/2006 7:48:55 AM PDT by NYer
PEORIA - Copies of a report on an alleged miracle that took place in 1999 through the intercession of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen were signed and sealed Sunday by Roman Catholic Church officials.
The 500-page report and supporting documents will now be delivered to Rome by canon lawyer Andrea Ambrosi, postulator of the cause to have Sheen recognized as a saint. There, Ambrosi will argue to a Vatican panel that this case and another being prepared in the Diocese of Pittsburgh are evidence of Sheen's sainthood.
Sheen, who was born in the Woodford County town of El Paso in 1895 and ordained in the Diocese of Peoria in 1909, went on to become a celebrity through his television programs in the 1950s and 1960s explaining the Catholic faith. He died on Dec. 9, 1979.
The effort to have him recognized as a saint was officially started in 2003.
The case that was investigated and sent off to Rome on Sunday occurred in 1999. A Champaign woman then 72 years old was undergoing lung surgery when a tear was discovered in her main pulmonary artery, according to the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation. The woman's husband told investigators he prayed for his wife's recovery "continually invoking Bishop Sheen."
The woman, who is still alive, survived the surgery and "suffered no later ill effects from the tear."
Details of the case were not given out, though they will later be made public when Ambrosi argues in support of the case before a tribunal in Rome. Fourteen witnesses, including doctors and family members, were interviewed.
Several documents finalizing the investigation were signed at a ceremony Sunday by Ambrosi and diocesan officials, including vicar general Monsignor Paul Showalter and Monsignor Richard Soseman, who is heading up the Sheen effort for the Diocese of Peoria. Two of the case's three copies and supporting documents were boxed up, with a letter identifying the contents glued to the top and red ribbon tied around the container. The box, ribbon and letter were then sealed together in wax by Showalter as several members of the Sheen family looked on.
The other copy will remain in Peoria.
With Soseman translating, Ambrosi said he thought the case was a good one.
The canon lawyer, who has worked on hundreds of sainthood causes including Pope John XXIII's, also said it is "very early" in such an effort to have two claims of miracles already.
There are still several more steps that have to be taken before Sheen can be recognized as a saint, however, including beatification by the Catholic Church and further investigation of how holy his life was.
The Rev. Andrew Apostoli, vice postulator of the Sheen cause who lives in New York, said he knows of at least four other claims of miraculous intercession by Sheen.
Showalter was moved by the significance of the ceremony, held in the Sheen Pastoral Center.
"You think of the long history of the church and of saints and the fact this is being done in the Diocese of Peoria," he said. "It's special and kind of unbelievable that we're able to be part of a rich tradition like this."
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He's one of my heroes. He has my vote!
If those words don't bring a tear to your eye, nothing will.
You can Glean a Lot of Wisdom from Sheen!!
He added, "What reward wilt thou have?" And Saint Thomas replied: "None, Lord, other than Thyself."
Wow! I didn't make the connection. That's high praise indeed.
If you get EWTN, you can watch (or tape) his show Friday nights at 9 PM and Sunday nights at 6:30 PM.
If you don't get EWTN in your area, you can catch the video stream. Just go to EWTN.com, pull down the TV menu to "live TV-English."
Enjoy!
WOW!! Thanks!!
And he turned all that power to the Lord's service.
The show I watched was his account of attempting to visit and console a really hard case dying in the hospital. He recounted all his efforts that failed to bear fruit, his persistence in the face of despair, and ultimately the amazing eleventh-hour conversion just through a chance word that he let fall.
The kicker was -- "this work and effort on my part to try to minister to one man is just a drop in the bucket and totally eclipsed by the total sacrifice that Christ made for everybody in the world." Pretty cool.
Thanks! I thought it must be EWTN.
Same here!
I just tried to get the TV English but I didn't see anything about Archbishop Sheen.
Thank-you NYer for taking the time to post this article. May Archbishop Sheen be proclaimed a saint soon, God willing.
My wife, kids and I love to watch ArchBishop Sheen when the reruns of Life is Worth Living appear on EWTN. It's great and he has my vote!
I was born & raised in El Paso. Bishop Sheen was born next to my grandfather's (& later my father's) tavern on Front Street. There is an active group in El Paso trying to get a memorial on the, now vacant, site where Bishop Sheen was born.
When my son had troubles (Prayer Request for Sick Child) I was told that his name was sent to the Sheen Foundation who prayed for him. I'm wondering if this is one of the other miracles that is talked about in the article.
I will be heading back to El Paso in a couple of weeks to visit my family & will attend Mass in the church where Bishop Sheen was Baptized.
Oh! When I see him in his cape and the full old fashioned Bishop's garb it makes me feel like I'm a little boy sitting in front of the b&w TV on Saturday night in about 1964. I love him. IINM, he dressed old-fashioned even for those days, when all around him was casualizing. But he didn't talk old-fashioned, oh no. He got right to the point. He's from the days when the Priest might step into the boxing ring for a little exercise and pop into the local tavern on Saturday night to bend a few elbows with his boys. Like Rod Steiger (?) in Boys Town. Or was that James Cagney.
EWTN every Sunday evenings at 6:30 PM present video tapes from the "Life Is Worth Living " series. Archbishop Sheen not only was in this life a man of deep faith, but also very wise, full of knowledge, and with a sense of humor. I have him as a member of my team of twelve favorite saints.
Here Is My List Of Team Twelve Favorite Saints :
1. St. Anne ( patron saint )
2. St. Francis of Assisi
3. St. Teresia of Avila
4. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
5. Father Mychal Judge, ( Francisian September 11th, 2001 priest/martyr )
6. Pope John Paul II ( the Great )
7. St. Martha ( to remind me to be both active and comtempletive )
8. St. (Sister) Marie Faustina ( Divine Mercy saint, I call her "Sister" out of high
regards for her )
9. St. Therese ( Little way )
10. Blessed Andre of Montreal, Canada
11. St. Christopher
12. St. Rose ( confirmation saint )
My team of 12 saints.
Special honorable mention : Blessed Mother Teresia and St. Ignatius of Loyola
Forgot to mention 2 more special honorable mention : St. Maximillion Kobe and St. Elizabeth Seton
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1895–Born on May 8th in El Paso, Illinois, the oldest of four sons of Newton and Delia Fulton Sheen though he was baptized Peter John, throughout his life he was known by his mother’s maiden name, Fulton. After his baptism, his mother dedicated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a dedication he himself renewed at his First Holy Communion. He lived with his family for a time on a farm outside Peoria, Illinois.
1920–After ordination he began two years of postgraduate studies in Theology at Catholic University in Washington D.C., and another year at the University of Louvain in Belgium.
1930–He began his national radio broadcast, “The Catholic Hour” which continued for some 22 years, reaching an estimated four million listeners.
1962–He attended all of the Vatican Council sessions in Rome, ending in 1965.
1979–On October 3rd, the Archbishop experienced one of the greatest moments of his life when Pope John Paul II embraced him in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, The Holy Father said to him, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church!”. On December 9th God called the Archbishop from this life to his eternal reward.