Sheen for saint Central Illinois diocese takes on bishop's caus

EL PASO, Ill. -- Karen Fulte sits amid a room full of photos, books and other items promoting the teachings of a native son who made the nation his pulpit, a man she never met but feels she knows well.

But collecting memorabilia about Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is not her goal. What she seeks are the experiences of others influenced by the late Catholic teacher, provable testimonials tinged with enough divine influence to persuade the church to name Sheen a saint.

What she needs, literally, is a miracle.

Under Vatican rules, one miracle must be proven for beatification and a second for sainthood.

Fulte and others around the country recently persuaded the Catholic Diocese of Peoria to petition for Fulton's sainthood. It's a mission she believes is divinely inspired.

"I truly believe there's an energy. I really believe that in areas where there were holy people, they continue to bless us from on high," she said.

'What a gift it would be'

Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky said he believes Sheen stands a good chance of surviving the sainthood process.

"Boy, would it be nice to have a saint from here. You use saints as examples of how you can live a life of Christ," Jenky said. "What a gift it would be for our diocese."

From humble beginnings in El Paso, a gas stop along Interstate 39, Sheen was ordained in Peoria and rose to prominence as an early master of broadcasting.

After a stint on national radio, he began hosting a weekly Christian television program called "Life is Worth Living" in 1952. At one point in its five-year run, it was the highest-rated show in America, reaching 30 million people.

Gregory Ladd of Highland, Ind., remembers gathering around the family television for Sheen's show, which would be discussed at his Catholic grade school the next day.

"I think that was pretty standard in so many homes," he said. "There was so much he had to offer."

Ladd in 1996 co-founded the Archbishop Sheen Foundation to push for canonization. He said the group has about 500 members.

In May the foundation asked Jenky, as leader of Sheen's original diocese, to take up the cause within the church. After careful study and consideration, Jenky agreed.

Although much of Sheen's ministry was conducted elsewhere, Jenky said, his central Illinois farming background makes him a role model for current parishioners.

Guided by 'God winks'

Fulte, who now runs the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Communication Room, a small museum and information center, said she is certain the campaign will succeed in part because of seeming coincidences she calls "God winks" that she believes have guided it so far.

She has gathered testimonies that seemed to fall into her lap -- a friend of a friend talks to someone with a relevant experience, and that person contacts her.

She said that's how she was contacted by a Florida man, now 52, who suffered from an intestinal illness as a child. She said he met Sheen and swears the disorder cleared up within two weeks.

Testimony like that will score points with Vatican investigators, but won't make the case. They first will review all Sheen's writings -- 66 books and numerous articles and newspaper columns -- to make sure they don't differ from church doctrine.

Then there is the matter of the miracles.

Ladd said among the hundreds of testimonials his foundation has received, he believes about a dozen may qualify as miracles. Most are medical-related, he said, cases where a terminal illness or incurable condition healed with no help from medical science after the patient prayed in Sheen's name for divine intervention.

Ladd said each case is documented with medical records and statements from the patient and doctors.

"We've had cases where there are X-rays and nothing shows up," he said. Cancer "was there and now it's gone."

Jenky said Vatican investigators are meticulous in documenting alleged miracles, often the toughest hurdle in a campaign for sainthood. His desk contains a file on several events reported as possible miracles attributed to Sheen, who died in 1979, but he would not discuss them since they have not been investigated.

Few who knew him left

Locally, few are left who knew Sheen. He was born in 1895, but his family later moved about 40 miles west to the Peoria area, where he received his early education and developed an aversion to farm life.

He was ordained in 1919 and served the Peoria diocese on and off while continuing his education, leaving for good in the late 1920s. He became an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New York in 1951 and was later designated archbishop.

A cousin, 93-year-old Merle Fulton, said Sheen visited family about once a year.

"Although I knew he was brilliant and all of those things, he never bowled me over. He was always very easy to talk to," Fulton said. "Like everybody else in that position, he was too busy to stay in one place for a very long time."