After a years-long postponement, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, announced on Feb. 9 that the Vatican has greenlit the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen — a beloved preacher, author, and media pioneer of the 20th century. 

No date or location for the celebration has been announced, but Bishop Tylka said he is working through the details with the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. New information will become available through celebratesheen.com.

“The Holy See has informed me that the Cause for the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen can proceed to beatification,” Bishop Tylka said in a statement. “The next step in the process is the celebration of the beatification, in which Fulton Sheen would be declared Blessed.”  

Beatification is the second stage of the sainthood process. It grants a deceased person the title of “Blessed,” allowing limited public veneration — generally in a specific region — after proving heroic virtue and one verified miracle. If, or when, a deceased person has a second miracle attributed to their intercession, they are canonized and declared a saint, at which time public veneration is opened to the world. 

With the news, Bishop Tylka and Catholics nationwide are celebrating a man remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history, having reached millions through radio, print, and television.  

“Archbishop Fulton Sheen was one of the greatest voices of evangelization in the Church and the world in the 20th century, Bishop Tylka said. “I have long admired his lifelong commitment to serve the Church as a priest, rooted in his deep devotion to the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist.  

“As he journeyed through the different stages of his life, his ability to share the Gospel and truly relate to people drew countless souls into an encounter with Jesus — one that transformed not only his life, but more importantly, the lives of those he touched.”

Born in El Paso, Illinois, on May 8, 1895, Archbishop Sheen was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Peoria on Sept. 20, 1919. In 1926, after completing his collegiate studies overseas, he began a 23-year tenure as a faculty member at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.  

It was there that Archbishop Sheen got involved in media. From 1930 to 1950, he led weekly talks on The Catholic Hour radio program. The program was so successful that at the time he left CUA in 1950 to become the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, he was one of the most well-known Catholics of his time.  

Archbishop Sheen’s next stop was the Big Apple.  

Pope Pius XII appointed him an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, and he was ordained a bishop on June 11, 1951. In early 1952, he launched his television series, “Life Is Worth Living,” which ran until early April 1957. A tremendous success, the show brought Archbishop Sheen national acclaim and an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality. At its peak, the program reached an estimated 30 million viewers weekly.  

RELATED: Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Iconic TV Shows Come to NET-TV

“He used television extremely well,” said Father Robert Lauder, a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, one of Archbishop Sheen’s faithful viewers. “He understood the power of the television camera and the power of the closeup. He was a compelling figure to watch, and he used television to evangelize, to bring people to God.”  

Ed Wilkinson, The Tablet’s editor emeritus, said he watched Archbishop Sheen’s programs growing up, as well. Wilkinson called him a “great, great communicator” — the likes of which we haven’t seen since.  

Ecclesiastically, Archbishop Sheen served the Archdiocese of New York until 1966, when he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. He resigned from that role in 1969 to focus on media evangelization, writing in his resignation letter that he is “not retiring, only retreading.” After his early retirement was accepted, Pope Paul VI named him archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales. Archbishop Sheen spent the remaining years of his life chiefly writing and preaching.  

He died on Dec. 9, 1979, at the age of 84.  

Troy Kassien, a Duke University academic who has studied and written on Archbishop Sheen’s legacy, noted that in addition to inspiring his viewers, Archbishop Sheen was also a bridge between the Church and the secular world.  

“[Archbishop] Sheen showed his contemporaries that it is possible for a religious person to also be a respected public figure and intellectual,” Kassien said.  

Then-Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky officially opened Archbishop Sheen’s cause for canonization on Sept. 14, 2002, making him a Servant of God. A decade later, on June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had recognized Archbishop Sheen’s life as one of “heroic virtue,” proclaiming him “Venerable Servant of God Fulton J. Sheen.” 

Then, on March 6, 2014, the board of medical experts who advise the Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously approved a miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession. And on June 17, 2014, a seven-member theological commission unanimously agreed with the experts’ decision. 

However, from this point forward, Archbishop Sheen’s cause stalled multiple times.  

First, on Sept. 3, 2014, Bishop Jenky announced that Archbishop Sheen’s cause was suspended due to a dispute between the Diocese of Peoria, his home diocese, and the Archdiocese of New York, where he served as an auxiliary bishop from 1951 to 1966. The dispute centered on the desire of Archbishop Sheen’s closest living relative, Joan Sheen Cunningham, to have him interred at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, and a statement in his will asking for interment in a New York cemetery. 

The issue was resolved on June 7, 2019, when the New York State Court of Appeals granted Cunningham’s request. Twenty days later, Archbishop Sheen’s body was moved to St. Mary’s Cathedral, and his cause was officially reopened.  

RELATED: New York Court Sides With Peoria in Tug-of-War Over Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s Body

With the cause reopened, one month later, on July 6, 2019, Pope Francis approved the miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession, which is the medically unexplained healing of a stillborn child.  

Then, on Nov. 19, 2019, Pope Francis notified the Diocese of Peoria that Archbishop Sheen’s beatification ceremony was to be held on Dec. 21, 2019, in Peoria. However, on Dec. 3, 2019, then-Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky announced that following a request from some U.S. bishops, the Vatican had decided to indefinitely postpone Archbishop Sheen’s beatification ceremony to investigate further his tenure as Rochester’s bishop from 1966 to 1969, and whether or not he would be accused of mishandling cases of sexual abuse or misconduct. No accusations have been made. 

Now, despite the past setbacks, Bishop Tylka is looking ahead.  

“Archbishop Sheen will be a special blessing for the Church in the United States, where he was a powerful evangelist on radio, television, and in personal appearances,” Bishop Tylka said. “The Church in Peoria rejoices with all of you in honoring this heroic Bishop and leader in the Church.”