“A
glorious note about the Church” is how Msgr. Óscar A. Romero of El Salvador introduced the subject
of Archbishop Fulton Sheen when he passed away in 1979. “Bishop
Fulton Sheen ended his days on this earth,” Romero told his flock in El Salvador. “He was
more than eighty years old and after a meritorious life he has gone to receive
his reward from the Lord. Let us pray for him.”
A much less
'glorious note' was sounded today, when the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, which
was in charge of Archbishop Sheen’s sainthood cause, announced via a press release that the canonization process would
be suspended because the Archdiocese of New York would not release Archbishop
Sheen’s body to Peoria for an official inspection to be made and first class
relics to be taken. The Archdiocese of
New York responded via a dueling press release that the Vatican had not requested
the body to be moved and, in any event, Archbishop Sheen’s will and the Sheen
family were opposed to his body’s relocation.
The decision
to indefinitely suspend Archbishop Sheen’s canonization cause is particularly
lamentable because the process had been reportedly advancing “extremely well,” with a miracle
attributed to the Venerable Sheen about to be approved and every indication
that a possible beatification date could be set as early as the coming year. According to a report in Vatican Insider, the Bishop of
Peoria “responded drastically to the
decision of the Big Apple’s diocesan authorities not to allow the transfer of
the body buried in the crypt of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.” According to that report’s analysis, “The monsignor’s decision intends to put pressure
on New York, sending out a message that more or less goes like this: if you
refuse to let us have Sheen’s remains we will halt the whole thing.”
Vatican
Insider predicted that the decision will be compared to other instances when
external considerations disrupted the smooth progress of other beatification
causes. Devotees of Archbishop Romero
will certainly be able to relate,
and empathize with Archbishop Sheen’s followers who may be feeling disheartened
today. To them, we can say what the Holy
Father Pope Francis said to us: we “must have faith that the
canonization … is proceeding at an appropriate speed.” Faith.
That’s exactly what you need. In
fact, many of the Church’s processes can be seen through the lens of politics
and palace intrigue, but we must have faith that God does not abandon our
Church. That is why a canonization
process can draw us closer and to adhere more faithfully to our Church.
In the
meantime, to our reverend Lord Bishops: Excellences, Eminences, for shame! Really— speaking to each other through press
releases? Exercising the “nuclear option”
on a saint’s cause in order to gain a tactical advantage in the negotiations
over his relics? Nobody is coming off in
a particularly angelic light here. Not
the Big Apple. Not Peoria. And, worst of all, not the canonization
process or the dignity of Holy Mother Church.
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