Sheen Foundation Gathering Information On ‘Instantaneous’ Cancer Case, 5 Other Purported Miracles
Any purported miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession since Pope Francis announced his beatification in July 2019 can count toward canonization, which norm...
6 days ago
The Sheen Foundation says it is gathering records on six reported healings attributed to Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s intercession, which could be considered in his path to canonization. The cases remain unverified; the foundation identified a reported instantaneous recovery from Stage 4 cancer and a newborn’s brain injury as possible candidates for investigation. 2 3
Monsignor Jason Gray, the foundation’s executive director, announced the six reports at a press conference in St. Louis. He said documentation is being collected and that it is too early to make conclusions; the cases will be investigated and left to the Holy See. 2 3
Gray described one report as a Stage 4 cancer that resolved “instantaneously.” Another involves a newborn diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a condition Gray said he was not familiar with. The other four reported cases were not detailed in the accounts. 2 3
The confirmed miracle that led to Sheen’s beatification involved James Fulton Engstrom, who survived after spending 61 minutes without a heartbeat. Now 16 and described as healthy, he was scheduled to present Sheen’s relics at the beatification Mass. 2 3
His mother, Bonnie Engstrom, said the family prayed to Sheen because he had long been familiar to them and felt like a warm, approachable Midwestern figure. She also said she and her husband were reassured by the thoroughness of the Vatican’s investigation into their son’s case. 2 3
The reports say a purported miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession since Pope Francis announced his beatification in July 2019 may be considered toward canonization. Canonization normally requires a second confirmed miracle after beatification. 2 3
Ecclesial discernment evaluates miracles as signs of intercessory healing
Ecclesial discernment treats an alleged miraculous healing not merely as an unusual medical event, but as a possible sign of God’s action—including a sign associated with the intercession of a servant of God or saint. In causes of saints, Pope John Paul II said that rigorously examined and officially recognized miracles can confirm the holiness of the person whose intercession was invoked and lend support to the Church’s judgment about that person’s witness.
The discernment involves distinct kinds of assessment. Medical experts can judge whether a healing is inexplicable according to current medical knowledge; theologians and Church authorities consider its religious significance and whether it can properly be called a miracle. At Lourdes, John Paul II described a recognized healing as a gift from God and a sign that may also attest to Mary’s intercession. Medical inexplicability is therefore important evidence, but the Church’s judgment is not reducible to a medical conclusion alone.
More broadly, the Church examines the circumstances and fruits of alleged supernatural events: the credibility and conduct of those involved, doctrinal consistency, the event’s unpredictability, and whether it fosters prayer, conversion, charity, sound devotion, and ecclesial communion. The competent bishop has responsibility for examining phenomena in his territory and submitting his judgment to the Dicastery for approval.
In practice, testimony about healings should be gathered honestly and accurately and submitted to the proper ecclesiastical authority. Thus, “intercessory healing” does not mean that the intercessor is treated as the source of divine power: the healing is attributed to God, while the intercession is understood as a means through which the faithful sought that grace.