Pope Leo XIV Announces Beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Pope Leo XIV has officially announced that the beatification of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will take place on September 24, 2026, in St. Louis. During an audience with the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Pope honored Sheen as a profound light of faith whose pioneering work in radio and television evangelization reached millions. The announcement coincides with the centennial of World Mission Sunday and the 110th anniversary of the Pontifical Missionary Union. Pope Leo XIV personally reflected on his own childhood connection to Sheen’s broadcasts while emphasizing the Archbishop's lasting legacy in global missionary efforts. Sheen, who was declared venerable in 2012, will continue on the path toward sainthood as the Church celebrates his contributions to spiritual and material aid.
4 months ago
Pope Leo XIV announced that Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified on 24 September 2026 in St. Louis, praising him as “a light of faith, hope, and love” whose radio‑ and television‑evangelization touched millions, including the pope himself as a child. 1 2 3 4 5
The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints set the beatification for 24 September 2026 in St. Louis, the city of Sheen’s birth. 1
Sheen was declared Venerable in 2012; a verified miracle will be required for canonization. 1
The ceremony coincides with the centennial year of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which Sheen once led as national director of the U.S. Society for the Propagation of the Faith. 1 2 4
Speaking to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Leo XIV called Sheen “a light of faith, hope, and love” and recalled hearing his programs while growing up. 1 2 4
He highlighted Sheen’s material and spiritual aid to churches in first‑evangelization areas, noting the archbishop’s donations of over $10 million and the raising of $200 million for missions. 1
Leo urged that the new Blessed Sheen become an example for national and diocesan directors of the Mission Societies worldwide. 1 2 4
Sheen’s media ministry—“The Catholic Hour” on NBC radio and the Emmy‑winning TV program “Life Is Worth Living”—reached tens of millions of Americans. 1
Beyond broadcasting, he served 16 years as national director of the Propagation of the Faith, channeling earnings and estate royalties to missionary work and supporting the construction of churches, schools, and seminaries globally. 1
His personal spirituality included a daily Eucharistic Holy Hour and deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 1
2026 marks the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday, established by Pope Pius XI in 1926. 2 4
Leo XIV emphasized the day’s theme, “One in Christ, United in Mission,” urging all Catholics to pray, reflect, and offer material sacrifices for missionary efforts, especially in young churches and first‑evangelization territories. 2 4
Funds from the observance support over 1,130 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, church infrastructure, missionary initiatives, and the formation of clergy at five Roman colleges. 2 4
In a later commentary, Monsignor Jason A. Gray suggested that Pope Leo’s praise points toward designating Sheen as the patron saint of missionaries and mission work. 5
If canonized, Sheen’s legacy could become a model for contemporary evangelization, especially in media and missionary fundraising. 5
Assess the theological basis for media evangelization in Catholic missionary doctrine
Media evangelization in Catholic missionary doctrine rests on a coherent theological foundation: the Church’s mandate to proclaim Christ to all nations, the Church’s universal salvific mission, and the nature of evangelization as both proclamation and personal invitation to faith—all of which can be genuinely served (though never replaced) by communications technologies.
Catholic missionary doctrine begins not with technology, but with the sending of the Son and the sending of the Apostles. The Council teaches that “as the Son was sent by the Father, so He too sent the Apostles,” commissioning them to “make disciples of all nations.” This mandate is received by the Church as a “solemn mandate of Christ” that she “must carry… to the very ends of the earth,” and the Church continues it “unceasingly” by proclamation.
From this standpoint, media evangelization is not a separate “marketing strategy,” but a missional instrument within the Church’s responsibility to proclaim the Gospel. Lumen Gentium explicitly situates the Church’s mission as the outward, visible offering of the light of Christ to the world, noting the “greater urgency” of modern conditions that bind peoples through social and technical ties.
Assessment: The strongest theological basis here is instrumentality: communication tools are legitimate because the Church is already compelled to preach everywhere; media can be one concrete way to extend that preaching in time and space.
Catholic doctrine also grounds media evangelization in the Church’s universal concern for salvation. The Council explains that those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God “in various ways,” including people who seek God “sincerely” and those who, without fault, do not have explicit knowledge of Christ. It adds that “Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.”
Because God’s salvific plan includes all, the Council says the Church, mindful of the Lord’s command, “fosters the missions with care and attention” to promote God’s glory and procure salvation.
Assessment: This provides a missionary rationale for reaching people through any means that can truly place the Gospel within reach—especially where personal contact is limited. But it also implies a duty of real proclamation, not mere cultural presence, since the Council links mission to preparing hearers to “receive and profess the faith.”
Paul VI is particularly helpful for evaluating the proper role of media. He states that our century is characterized by the “mass media or means of social communication,” and that “the first proclamation, catechesis or the further deepening of faith cannot do without these means.” When placed “at the service of the Gospel,” these means can “increase almost indefinitely the area in which the Word of God is heard” and enable the Good News to reach “millions of people.”
Yet Paul VI immediately articulates the theological danger: the media can reach vast numbers, but the evangelical message must also “pierc[e] the conscience of each individual… implant[ing] itself in his heart as though he were the only person being addressed.” This means media evangelization must be assessed by its capacity to mediate an encounter with Christ that calls for “personal adherence and commitment,” not just audience statistics.
He also insists on the balance between content and method: “The obvious importance of the content of evangelization must not overshadow the importance of the ways and means,” while also noting that “how to evangelize” matters because methods vary with culture and circumstances. Therefore, pastors must “reshap[e] with boldness and wisdom, but in complete fidelity to the content of evangelization,” ensuring methods are suitable for communicating the Gospel to people of our time.
Finally, evangelization must respect freedom. Paul VI warns against coercion: it is not an error “to propose to their consciences the truth of the Gospel… with complete clarity and with a total respect for the free options,” and he explicitly rejects “coercion” or “dishonorable or unworthy pressure.”
Assessment: The theological basis for media evangelization is real, but conditional: media is legitimate only insofar as it remains ordered to the Gospel’s content, the conscience of the person, and the freedom of faith.
Catholic teaching links evangelization to concrete life. Paul VI says evangelization involves “the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man's concrete life, both personal and social,” which is why it includes an “explicit message” adapted to different situations about rights and duties, family life, society, peace, justice, development, and liberation.
This is relevant to media because communications approaches can translate the Gospel into culturally intelligible forms. Paul VI notes that the Church’s mission of revealing Jesus to those who do not know him includes not only explicit preaching but also what may be termed “pre-evangelization” (already “evangelization in a true sense”) and that “an almost indefinite range of means can be used,” including “art,” “the scientific approach,” “philosophical research,” and “legitimate recourse to the sentiments of the human heart.”
Assessment: Media evangelization can serve the “adapted explicit message” requirement because mass communications can carry pedagogical, artistic, and cultural forms that help the Gospel meet people where they are—while still requiring explicit clarity and calling for conversion.
Misssion is not only the work of clergy. Paul VI describes a “very special form of evangelization” for lay people because their vocation places them “in the midst of the world.” Their task is not primarily to establish ecclesial community (that is the role of pastors) but to use “every Christian and evangelical possibility” already present in world affairs. He explicitly includes “the mass media” within lay evangelizing territory, along with politics, society, economics, culture, sciences, arts, and international life.
Modern communications are also anthropologically and culturally formative. Pope Leo XIV teaches that communication “is not only the transmission of information, but it is also the creation of a culture,” and that content circulated online shapes how people “perceive the world” and influences “daily choices,” becoming part of people’s lives, especially the youngest. This means media evangelization should be understood not only as broadcasting facts, but as participating in the Church’s broader mission of shaping a culture of truth and communion.
Leo XIV further grounds the Church’s media advocacy in her universal mission. In addressing a conference on media and digital literacy, he notes that the Church’s concern for social communications is understood in light of her duty “to preach the gospel,” and he frames media use as ordered to “eternal salvation of every human person.” He also stresses that the direction given to media, digital technology, and AI must ensure tools are placed at the “authentic service of humanity.”
Consistent with this, he calls for educating people in media and AI literacy so they can think critically, avoid treating AI as an authority, and use tools responsibly—so that technologies contribute to the salvation of those who use them.
Assessment: The theological basis here supports a “whole-person and whole-culture” understanding of media evangelization: lay work, truth-telling, reconciliation-oriented communication, and media literacy all become part of the Church’s missionary character because communication forms minds, choices, and communal life.
Putting these sources together, Catholic missionary doctrine yields several criteria:
The theological basis for media evangelization in Catholic missionary doctrine is fundamentally missional and Christological: the Church is commanded to proclaim the Gospel to all, and modern communications can extend and adapt that proclamation. But doctrinally, media evangelization is legitimate only when it remains faithful to the Gospel’s content, aims at personal conversion of conscience, respects freedom without coercion, and recognizes that communication shapes culture—requiring formation such as media and AI literacy.