Archbishop Fulton John Sheen is a Blessed of the Church, declared such on Thursday in St. Louis, Missouri, during a gorgeous liturgy with nearly 90 bishops and a thousand priests concelebrant, as well as 50 thousand pilgrims in the St. Louis Dome at America’s Center.

Sheen is the first U.S.-born bishop to be declared Blessed – a formal act one step short of canonization – which means a deceased person lived a holy life, is in heaven, and may be publicly venerated at least in certain places.

The principal celebrant of the beatification Mass was Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, papal legate – official representative – for the occasion, a celebration of Catholicism in the United States as much as of it was of Sheen, a titan of Catholic evangelism in the 20^th century.

The First Reading was in Spanish, and the Second Reading was in Portuguese, while the Gospel reading was read in English.

Born Peter John Sheen in Peoria, Illinois, in 1895, Sheen came to be known by his mother’s maiden name, “Fulton” early in life.

Sheen was ordained a priest of Peoria in 1919 and pursued advanced study in philosophy, winning the prestigious Mercier Prize and receiving his doctorate from the Catholic University of Louvain in 1923.

Tagle conveyed greetings from Pope Leo XIV – himself an Illinois native — who “rejoices,” Tagle said, “at the beatification of his fellow countryman, his fellow Illinoisan and brother bishop.”

Sheen taught philosophy and theology at various institutions including the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Sheen was also a prolific author of both scholarly and popular works, and a renowned orator.

Sheen had a radio program – The Catholic Hour – for two decades, before becoming the host of Life Is Worth Living for the DuMont Television Network and later the American Broadcasting Network in 1951, which made him a household name.

Also in 1951, Pope Pius XII made him an auxiliary bishop of New York, a post he held until Paul VI named him to lead the Diocese of Rochester, NY, in 1966.

Sheen led the Rochester diocese for only just shy of three years, during which he championed racial justice in word and deed, and became increasingly vocal in his opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Sheen was a Father of the Vatican Council II and an advocate – early and staunch – for the global south, which he came to know in part through his years as U.S. national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, a position he held from 1950 to 1966.

Tagle, a Filipino and pro-prefect for the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, in his homily praised Sheen’s missionary spirit and his passionate dedication to spreading the gospel.

Quoting the apostolic letter of Pope Leo XIV declaring Sheen a Blessed, Tagle described him as “a tireless preacher of the Gospel through the modern means of communication and a diligent shepherd animated by missionary zeal.”

Tagle also noted Sheen’s championship of the poor, concentrated disproportionately in the global south, and quoted Sheen’s 1964 remarks to the Council.

“As only a wounded Christ could convert a doubting Thomas,” Tagle quoted Sheen as saying, “so only a Church wounded by poverty can convert a doubting world.”

Cardinal Tagle also praised Sheen’s diligent care for persons – flesh and blood – in their woundedness.

“To use preaching as an excuse to avoid concrete persons and to be blind to God’s action in them is not mission,” he said.

“It is not blessedness,” Tagle said.

“Blessed is the missionary who digs deep into the heart of the poor to meet Jesus there,” he said.

Pope Leo XIV established Blessed Fulton Sheen’s feast day as December 9, the day he died in 1979, while at prayer in his private chapel before the Blessed Sacrament.

Two months earlier, an aged and already ailing Sheen had encountered the young and recently elected Pope John Paul II, who embraced him told him, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are a loyal son of the Church.”

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