Sheen beatification ‘a gift’ and a call to mission, say pilgrims in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (OSV News) — From across the United States and around the world, faithful of all ages have traveled to St. Louis for the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen — and several pilgrims described the occasion as both a “gift” and a call to be missionary disciples.

Dominique Abagi of Sydney traveled 12 hours from her vacation lodgings in Colombia to attend the celebration, which she described as a “must-go” opportunity.

“I love his writing and I love his videos,” she said, speaking to OSV News after a Sept. 23 scheduled midday Mass at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, located near the iconic Gateway Arch.

Pilgrims filled both the pews and the confessionals at the basilica, prompting basilica rector and celebrant Father Nicholas W. Smith to quip that had he anticipated such a crowd, he would have “called in reinforcements.”

Abagi said that she particularly appreciated Archbishop Sheen’s ability to make the truths of the Catholic faith accessible.

“I love that he explains things that seem complex, but when he says them, I’m like, ‘Oh no, that’s just true,'” she said.

Fellow pilgrim and Mass attendee Carolyn Kwapich of Ave Maria, Florida, echoed that view.

“I think he speaks so clearly that he’s almost a man for the common man,” she told OSV News. “He’s not speaking at a level that’s so high that people can’t relate to him. I think that you could always take something away from any of his preaching.”

Archbishop Sheen’s keen awareness and spiritual foresight made him “a man of our times,” she said, noting that “Life of Christ” was one of her favorite books by Archbishop Sheen.

Kwapich, a self-described Catholic “revert,” fought back tears as she said, “I love Fulton Sheen.”

Kathleen Hastings of Phoenix, who was also at the Sept. 23 Mass, told OSV News she had an additional reason for being on hand.

“He and my grandmother are second cousins. Their grandmothers were sisters,” she explained. “So I’m on the Fulton side; that’s why I came.”

Hastings described the beatification as “very exciting.”

“We hope he becomes a saint fairly soon,” she said.

Ukrainian Catholic pilgrims attending the beatification pointed to Archbishop Sheen’s closeness to Eastern Catholics.

Yuriy Melnik, a western Ukrainian native who along with his wife, Helena, now lives in Chicago, noted that Archbishop Sheen had priestly faculties in the Byzantine Catholic rite.

“He was bi-ritual,” said Melnik, citing St. John Paul II’s metaphor of the “two lungs,” Eastern and Western, which both enable Jesus Christ’s Catholic Church to breathe fully.

In a homily during a 1960 Melkite Divine Liturgy in Birmingham, Alabama, Archbishop Sheen pointed to the Byzantine rite as “the door” through which the Russian Orthodox Church would enter if it ever sought full communion with Rome.

Melnik, who spoke with OSV News Sept. 23 following pre-beatification vespers at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, also stressed Archbishop Sheen’s passionate opposition to communism.

“He was a fierce fighter against communism, and that’s exactly what we (in Ukraine) experience in our life,” said Melnik, referencing Russia’s war on Ukraine. Initiated in 2014 and accelerated by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, the conflict has been classified as genocidal in multiple human rights reports.

“We share so much in common with Fulton Sheen,” said Melnik. “That’s why he is so dear to our Ukrainian heart as well.”

Fellow Ukrainian Catholic Olga Salheska — originally from Ternopil, Ukraine, and currently living in Chicago — said that Archbishop Sheen’s passion for the Gospel inspired hearts everywhere to become missionary disciples.

“We need to evangelize as much as we can,” Salheska told OSV News. “It doesn’t matter where we live; it doesn’t matter what language you speak.”

Archbishop Sheen’s beatification and its surrounding events have provided pilgrims renewed energy for their own missionary journey as fellow followers of Christ.

“It’s a gift to be able to come,” Abagi said.

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