VIDEO: Man Who Met Archbishop Sheen As a Child Attends Beatification
UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan — For one group of pilgrims in St. Louis for the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the journey is about more than witnessing a historic moment in the Catholic Church. It is also a chance to honor a personal connection to the beloved churchman and television evangelist.
Catherine Heeb and her friend Lauren Migliore traveled from upstate New York to Manhattan to join Heeb’s brother, Sean D’Arcy, before beginning their pilgrimage.
The group is among the faithful making the trip for Archbishop Sheen’s beatification, an important step in the Catholic Church’s process toward sainthood.
“This is really huge for the United States because we don’t have many beatified in the United States or made saints,” Heeb said.
Migliore remembers watching Sheen on television as a child.
“I do remember watching him as a kid, black and white on TV,” she said.
For D’Arcy, the pilgrimage carries an even deeper personal connection.
In 1962, when he was a toddler, D’Arcy was traveling by train from Syracuse to Buffalo with his mother, who was trying to manage four young children on her own. A priest noticed the family and offered to help.
“Nobody else was helping her. And a man who happened to be a priest turned toward her and said, ‘Can I help?’ She said yes,” D’Arcy recalled.
That priest was Archbishop Sheen.
D’Arcy remembers Archbishop Sheen entertaining him for about an hour during the train ride.
“Pointing things out in the window and just having fun,” D’Arcy said.
Decades later, D’Arcy remains captivated by Sheen’s influence as both a media personality and Catholic leader.
“He was an unbelievable media star, but very spiritually deep. A good man,” D’Arcy said.
Sheen became one of the most recognizable Catholic figures of the 20th century, reaching millions through his television and radio programs.
D’Arcy’s admiration for Sheen eventually led him to establish a monthly Mass at the Church of St. Agnes on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where Sheen spent the final years of his life preaching and evangelizing.
“Fulton Sheen was an amazing thinker, amazing person,” D’Arcy said.
For the pilgrims traveling to St. Louis, the beatification is also an opportunity to share Archbishop Sheen’s story with a new generation.
“It’s just a gift to keep spreading the word — like what he did, what he meant,” Heeb said.
Migliore said her devotion to Sheen has also become personal.
“I’ve actually been praying to him, thinking already that he’s a saint,” she said.
D’Arcy said he believes the beatification comes at an important moment for the church and its faithful.
“The church needs a shot in the arm. People need to feel good,” he said.
The group also plans to visit Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois, during the pilgrimage, hoping to gain a fuller understanding of the life and legacy of the man they are traveling to honor.
For D’Arcy, the trip brings a personal story that began on a train more than six decades ago full circle — and gives him a chance to celebrate the man who made an impression on him as a young child.