Pakistan bishop ‘inspired’ by Blessed Fulton Sheen crossed globe for beatification
Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad, Pakistan, traveled to St. Louis and Peoria to attend celebrations for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification. Rehmat said Sheen’s writings and preaching are influential among clergy in Pakistan, where he is often quoted in homilies, retreats and talks to seminarians. Inspired by Sheen’s use of radio, television and other communications, Rehmat’s diocese also uses modern media to spread the Gospel. The Pakistani bishop hopes Sheen’s life and witness will continue to shape his ministry and become better known in his diocese.
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Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad, Pakistan, traveled to the United States for the Sept. 24, 2026, beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, whom he says has influenced his preaching and ministry. Rehmat joined the ceremonies in St. Louis and Peoria, and said he hopes Sheen’s example and intercession will strengthen faith and promote peace in Pakistan.
The bishop concelebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in Peoria on Sept. 25 and venerated Sheen’s tomb. He described attending the beatification as a significant moment for the Church.
Rehmat said Sheen’s writings are widely used by clergy in Pakistan in homilies, retreats and talks to seminarians. He is reading Sheen’s autobiography, Treasure in Clay, and reflected on its account of the challenges of serving as a diocesan bishop.
Rehmat, who marked seven years as a bishop and 34 years as a priest in September, said Sheen’s work as a preacher and his use of radio, television and other communications inspire his own ministry. His diocese also uses modern communications to share the Gospel.
Rehmat said Sheen is better known among clergy and religious in his diocese than among lay Catholics, and suggested that his beatification could bring him wider attention.
As U.S. director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Sheen had contact with Pakistan. Rehmat said he noticed that Sheen mentioned the country three times in Treasure in Clay, including a letter describing severe hunger in which people were reportedly forced to eat sand.
Rehmat called Sheen an evangelizer and expressed hope that his intercession would bring Pakistan greater peace and prosperity, as well as deeper faith.
Modern media shape Catholic evangelization across cultures
Modern media shape Catholic evangelization not merely by carrying Christian messages, but by influencing how people communicate, form opinions, understand the world, and practice religion. The Church is therefore called both to proclaim the Gospel through media and to engage thoughtfully with the cultures media help create.
Media are often a primary source of information, education, and guidance. Their influence reaches beyond the content they transmit: new technologies bring new languages, habits, and expectations, affecting how audiences perceive and judge what they see. Evangelization must therefore understand this environment rather than treating media as a neutral loudspeaker for familiar messages.
This has particular importance across cultures. The same message may need different forms of expression to be understood in distinct cultural settings. Pope John Paul II describes St. Paul’s proclamation at Athens as an example of speaking in language appropriate to one’s audience, and calls contemporary communications a modern “Areopagus”—a cultural meeting place where the Gospel must be present.
Media can bring the Gospel to people and places that ordinary parish activity may not reach. Catholic teaching recognizes their potential for initial proclamation, catechesis, and deepening faith, while insisting that a broad audience should still be addressed in a way that invites each person’s own response and commitment. In some settings, media may be the Church’s only contact with non-practising Catholics or the wider community.
But reach alone is not evangelization’s measure. A message must be communicated truthfully and competently, and integrated into the new cultural forms communication creates. The Church’s task is not only to circulate Christian content, but also to help bring the culture of communication itself into dialogue with the Gospel.
Inculturation means expressing the Gospel in ways that genuinely engage a culture while remaining faithful to the Christian message. This requires learning the language and characteristics of media and understanding the cultures in which they operate. Competent use can help the Gospel take root in a culture; it is not simply a matter of translating words or posting religious material.
This discernment matters because media can serve or undermine human dignity and the faith. They can expand access to truth, but can also blur the distinction between truth and illusion or encourage uncritical habits. In some cultural contexts, indiscriminate media use may harm traditional ways of life, while advertising can promote consumerism and values at odds with the Catholic understanding of the human person.
Thus media evangelization includes forming audiences as well as producing content. Catholics—especially young people—need help evaluating media critically and discerning the values and assumptions embedded in it.
The Church’s response calls for preparation, coordination, and professional quality. Catholic teaching recommends training pastoral workers and media professionals, supporting high-quality Catholic communication, and developing pastoral plans suited to local and national circumstances. It also recognizes the value of communicating in local languages, which can make Catholic publications more accessible to families and communities.
In short, modern media can help the Church cross cultural and geographic boundaries, but they also shape the very cultures being reached. Catholic evangelization is most faithful to its mission when it learns those cultures, speaks intelligibly within them, communicates responsibly, and invites people beyond exposure to a message toward a personal encounter with Christ.