CHARLOTTE — They’ve laughed with him, prayed with him, learned from him, and on Sept. 24, parishioners from the Diocese of Charlotte joined with 50,000 Catholics to publicly venerate the television star, the American bishop, the soon-to-be saint - and the now Blessed Fulton J. Sheen.
Archbishop Sheen left a lasting impression on this diocese through his visits to Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, and Our Lady of Grace (OLG) in Greensboro.
Years after, the charismatic "missionary evangelist" took to the radio and television waves - with his friends Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - his legacy still remains in the hearts of our priests, parishioners and religious.
“He is the reason I spend an hour a day in Eucharistic adoration,” said Father Lucas Rossi, one of the five diocesan priests raised in Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois, and pastor of St. John the Evangelist and Immaculate Conception in Canton.
The event drew pilgrims from OLG, St. Mark in Huntersville, and Charlotte parishes St. Mary Syro Malabar, St. Matthew and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Eileen Rohan, a parishioner of OLG, who traveled to the beatification with a group of eight from her church, believed the event highlighted Sheen’s “Life Worth Living.”
She still remembers his blue eyes and booming voice when she saw him in person during the school dedication visit in Greensboro on Nov. 14, 1976 as a child. Through the years, she watched him from her living room couch, in college and with her grandmother. She read his books as an adult, and this week traveled the 700 miles to celebrate the religious figure she looked up to most of her life.
“When they did the altar installation, revealed the official pictures of him, and brought up the relics and placed them on the altar. Then the altar was dressed in cloth. It just seemed so incredibly special,” Rohan said. “Now he is Blessed. Now it means that he could be on an altar. That we could venerate his relics - where we couldn't before.”
Father Raymond Esuka Ekosse, parochial vicar of OLG, also went on the trip.
“When Father Raymond entered seminary, there was a Sheen explosion throughout Africa,” Rohan laughed. “He learned all about Sheen. He watched his videos and read all his books.”
Now, wearing vestments with Sheen’s trademark, “JMJ” (Jesus, Mary, Joseph) embroidered on the back, Father Ekosse, a long way from his hometown in Cameroon, processed with clergy and religious, including Father Rajeev Valiyaveettil Philipas from St. Mary, while their parishioners watched from stadium seating.
“Way up in the bleachers we could see the whole floor. There had to be like 1,000 priests,” Rohan said. “They were greeting each other so warmly, like it was real brotherhood, which was something that Sheen wrote about. I always enjoy processions, but this one just was wonderful and seemed endless.”
For Rohan, those best moments continued to play out in front of her in a rapid collage of beauty.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle’s homily left a teaching moment.
“It seemed to address Sheen, why he's a saint, but also address the priests to show how they could embrace teachings from Sheen today,” Rohan said. “But he also told us as laity how we could act in a missionary way.”
Arn and Brigitte Vogt, also OLG parishioners in their 80s, did not let their years stop them from making the trip for the long-awaited beatification of the man they grew up listening to.
Up on the stage, a stand with a velour covering awaited, and Arn Volk knew that was where his picture would be unveiled when Sheen was formally beautified.
“I had my video ready, and when he announced the words ‘the Blessed Fulton Sheen’ I captured it on my camera,” Vogt said. “And, oh to hear the audience, all the people in the arena’s applause and all the excitement that took place. It was just gorgeous, the sights, the music, the sounds, of it all.
David and Carissa Scibor, St. Matthew parishioners, also felt called to bring their family to the rare moment.
“We feel like the best way we can model the faith to our kids is to have them go and experience the faith. You want to talk about the richness of the faith. Go to a beatification mass,” David Scibor said. “Your heart is full. You're seeing all the greatness of the church.”
Sitting in the main aisle, they had a clear view of James Fulton Engstrom, the young boy who was alive due to Sheen’s intercessionand whose case advanced Sheen’s cause of beatification, carrying up the relics.
The celebration of Catholics felt like a family reunion of sorts, he said.
“Being able to come together as Catholics for this event was definitely emotional. It was cool to see this moment in which the status within the Church was elevated.”
Writer and podcaster of “Rebranding Motherhood”, Jillian Tymo from St. Mark, came to the historic moment for for her work in communications for Abby Johnson, a prolife advocate.
Tymo said, “Something said at the beatification that stuck with me was… he was described as both a man at the dinner table and a man of the stage. I thought of the intimacy of that…I found it to be such an incredible example of aiming at telling the truth in an age of social media and having the time for me to sit and reflect on his legacy.”
The main relic she found to be appropriate and poetic.
“The relic they used celebrating him as a communicator was his bottom jawbone. That was so telling,” Tymo said. “That was a very special moment to be able to see. There is a severe poetry that the Church tends to use, the symbols all connect in this incredible way to continue to promote just how this man glorified God.”
With her, Tymo brought a picture of her infant mother being held by Sheen in the 50s and left with new memories of the soon-to-be saint who continues to teach lessons from the heavens.
“I always had that picture of my mother because it was taken right before her father died. Her life took such a difficult turn, but my grandmother kept the faith in a very tangible way,” Tymo said. “She was so proud of that photo, and I can’t wait to celebrate with her one day.”
Expecting her sixth child which is due around Sheen’s future feast day, she felt that deep connection of faith and motherhood between her and her grandmother during the beatification.
As Scibor noted, “Fulton Sheen was on the right path. Whether you're touching hundreds of thousands of households or you're just touching the people that come into your daily life, we are all presented with opportunities. What are we going to do to make the people around us shine a little bit brighter?
— Lisa M. Geraci
