International News

As Beatification Draws Near, Man Reflects On Train Ride With Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Wandy Ortiz
By · Reporter
Published September 21, 2026  11:56am EDT
For decades, Sean D’Arcy has dedicated his faith life to learning and teaching others about the legacy of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. (Photo: Wandy Felicita Ortiz)

UPPER EAST SIDE — When Archbishop Fulton Sheen is beatified on Sept. 24, Sean D’Arcy will be among the tens-of-thousands expected in the crowd, along with more than a dozen others from the Church of St. Agnes, where Archbishop Sheen spent the final years of his life preaching and evangelizing.

On Sept. 22, the group will fly from New York City to St. Louis ahead of the beatification. For D’Arcy, who recently spoke with The Tablet as he packed for the trip, the experience has already brought back memories of an encounter he and his family had with Archbishop Sheen more than 60 years ago.

In 1962, D’Arcy remembers travelling on a train from Buffalo to Syracuse with his mother and three siblings when then-Bishop Sheen noticed the young children fighting for the window seat and offered to help get them under control.

His mother, Mary Lou, agreed, and Archbishop Fulton Sheen entertained D’Arcy, who was two or three years old at the time, for the next hour by pointing out the train window and describing the scenery.

From left to right: The D’Arcy siblings as children — Maureen, Larry, Michael, Sean, and Catherine. Sean was age six, and Catherine was seven at the time of this photo. They met Archbishop Fulton Sheen approximately four years earlier. (Photo: courtesy of Sean D’Arcy)

“We were just having fun,” D’Arcy recalled, noting that it wasn’t until afterwards that they realized it was Archbishop Sheen, whose television program and radio shows were mainstays in the Catholic family’s New York household. Following the train encounter, D’Arcy said his mother continued to teach him and his siblings about Archbishop Sheen, which led to a devotion and interest that he carried with him into adulthood.

RELATED: Growing Up With Archbishop Fulton Sheen — ‘He Captured Our Attention’

His first job after graduating from Columbia University in 1981 was in the Chrysler Building, which was right across the Street from the Church of St. Agnes, which served as Archbishop Sheen’s home parish in the later years of his life.

D’Arcy said the church became a workday prayer stop for him, and eventually, because of his connection to and interest in Archbishop Sheen, it became his home parish. In 2025, he led efforts to establish a monthly Mass to educate parishioners about Archbishop Sheen and his impact. Those Masses were celebrated every month from May 2025 to May 2026, according to D’Arcy.

“I felt the (Archbishop Sheen) Mass was a preparation for this beatification, because I had no idea that the beatification was happening but I had the calling to do this Mass,” he explained. “I think the Holy Spirit was at work. It kind of warmed things up, had everyone thinking that way. The timing was just right.”

From left to right: Catherine Heeb, Sean D’Arcy and Lauren Megliorie are preparing to travel to St. Louis Missouri for the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. (Photo: Wandy Felicita Ortiz)

D’Arcy will travel to the beatification with his sister, Catherine Heeb, who was also on the train when the family encountered Archbishop Sheen, and family friend Lauren Megliorie.

“It’s just a gift. It keeps spreading the word — what he did, what he meant, and this is really huge for the United States,” Heeb said of Archbishop Sheen’s beatification. “This is very, very special for the whole country.”