Pastor’s Letter, July 7, 2019

Pastor’s Letter, July 7, 2019

5 Jul 2019 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friends,

Last week, the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen were transferred from New York to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria. The Diocese of Peoria noted in a press release that Sheen’s remains returned to Peoria on June 27, 2019. This marked the end of a three year legal battle to honor the wishes of Joan Sheen that Sheen be permanently buried in the Peoria Cathedral. The move of Sheen’s body happened without public notification because he is yet to be beatified. With the return of Sheen to Peoria, the cause for the beatification of Sheen resumes. The Diocese will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Fulton Sheen’s ordination on September 20, 2019. This is time of great blessing and grace for our local Church. When the Pope approves the beatification of Fulton Sheen, the Mass of beatification will be scheduled and celebrated in Peoria. It is possible 40,000 people may come to Peoria for the Mass. In the meantime, please visit the new tomb of Fulton Sheen in our Cathedral. The Diocese initiated a new website to communicate information about Sheen and the beatification process. Please visit celebratesheen.com for updates.

I am a firm believer that God often backs up human decisions with miracles or grace when we are in line with His Will or God wants us to pay attention to the situation. A few years ago, Bishop Jenky completed a beautiful renovation to our Cathedral. Part of the renovation was to prepare an altar to house the remains of Venerable Fulton Sheen. This side altar is dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, with this image of Mary above the altar. Below is a picture with Fr. Lucas and myself praying before this altar. The beatification process of Sheen started over 15 years ago, with a three year legal battle for the remains of Sheen to return to Peoria. All this being true, the body of Sheen was placed in the Cathedral on June 27, the Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. There was no planning behind this scheduling. It is just “coincidence” that Sheen’s body was returned to Peoria and placed in the altar under the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on her feast day. God is always at work. This holds to be a time of great grace for our local Church. Please find the time to visit his tomb at our Cathedral, visitation times are listed at celebratesheen.com

God bless,

Father David