The group from Owensboro Catholic Schools, which traveled to the St. Louis beatification of Bl. Fulton J. Sheen on Sept. 24, stands outside The Dome prior to the Mass. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
‘Close to God’
Owensboro Catholic group attends Fulton Sheen beatification
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Mary Ruth Thompson, an eighth grader from Owensboro Catholic Middle School who attended the Sept. 24, 2026 beatification of Bl. Fulton J. Sheen, did not know a lot about the 20th-century American bishop before the trip.
But by the end of the day, she had come to realize that people who are “close to God” walk among us each day.
And like Bl. Fulton, “we can help other people be close to God,” said Thompson, who was part of a bus trip of 44 Owensboro Catholic School System middle and high school students traveling via charter bus to The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis for the historic event.
“It was inspiring to my faith because I did not know who Fulton Sheen was until I heard about the beatification,” she said. “I wanted to go because it was a beatification, and then this helped me learn more about him!”
Approximately 50,000 people – including laypeople, clergy, and religious – attended the Mass of Beatification that day, which began with a 30-minute procession of bishops, cardinals, seminarians, and others up the aisle. Concelebrating priests wore matching vestments embroidered with a gold “JMJ” (for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) in Fulton Sheen’s signature. The Mass itself lasted for about two and a half hours.
Hunter Graves, a Spanish teacher at Owensboro Catholic High School who chaperoned the school trip, said that this was “a joyous opportunity” to help bring a group from the Owensboro Catholic community to the beatification.
“Fulton Sheen inspires me as an educator because he, himself, acted before all else as an educator,” adding that he admires the bishop’s “ability to explain complex theological topics” in ways that anyone could understand.
“Before I write anything on the board (during class) I always write ‘JMJ’ at the top,” he said, in reference to Sheen’s famous cursive “JMJ” he always started his chalkboard lessons with on his television show, “Life is Worth Living.”
Cardinal Luis Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, concelebrates the beatification Mass for Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Sept. 24, 2026, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. He is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. OSV NEWS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER
While Bl. Fulton was born in raised in Peoria, Illinois, which would customarily have been the location of his beatification Mass, the sheer number of anticipated people prompted the Diocese of Peoria to shift the liturgy to nearby, and larger, St. Louis. (Other beatification celebrations throughout the week, however, took place back in Illinois.)
During the Mass, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a pro-prefect for the Holy See’s Dicastery for Evangelization and papal delegate, pronounced Archbishop Sheen a blessed of the Catholic Church, to applause and cheers by the faithful.
The cardinal also gave the homily, during which he stated, “blessed are the authentic missionary evangelizers,” in reference to Bl. Fulton’s influential and pastoral approach to evangelization through his myriad writings and popular radio and television programs that reached millions.
While the archbishop, who hosted what is considered the world’s first Catholic television broadcast, gained an audience of up to 30 million, Cardinal Tagle explained that Bl. Fulton did not consider numbers to be a measure of spiritual success.
Instead, the American archbishop saw himself “simply as a porter who is sometimes able to lead people to the house of God,” said the cardinal.
Cardinal Tagle also reflected on Archbishop Sheen’s care for the poor and those on the margins, as any money he made from his popular broadcasts was sent to the missions.
“Caring for the poor was not ideological propaganda, but an imperative for the following of Christ!” said the cardinal.
The Engstrom family talks after presenting the relic of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen during the beatification Mass for the American archbishop Sept. 24, 2026, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. Bl. Fulton’s intercession is credited for the miraculous healing of 16-year-old James Fulton Engstrom (left) as a newborn infant, who experienced a complete recovery after spending his first 61 minutes after birth not breathing. OSV NEWS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER
Cardinal Tagle also spoke of Bl. Fulton’s dedication to the Eucharist and how he drew his strength from his daily Holy Hours.
“Blessed are you, storyteller of Jesus encountered in his word, in the Eucharist, in the Holy Hour and in his body, the Church,” declared the cardinal.
Matt Madej, the director of faith formation for the Owensboro Catholic School System, helped coordinate the trip that day, and commented that “we can talk about ‘beatification’ all we want in the classroom, but taking students to a beatification Mass” is a unique opportunity.
He said that “witnessing the unity of the Church” and watching the 16-year-old boy, whose miraculous healing as a newborn is attributed to Bl. Fulton Sheen, carry the reliquary up the aisle during Mass “speaks volumes about what practicing the faith means in the Church,” said Madej.
“Fifty thousand people gathered together speaks to the influence Sheen has had on others through his use of modern media and shows the perennial value of practicing our faith as missionary disciples,” he said, adding that “participating in the beatification Mass with 44 students” strengthened his own hope in young people’s desire to enter into deeper union with Christ.
The group from Owensboro Catholic hit the road shortly after Mass, arriving home to Owensboro around 11 p.m. that night. While the group was tired from the long day, the students and adult chaperones alike were moved by the experience, which was deemed well worth the lengthy charter bus journey.
Through this experience, Madej said he witnessed how students “deeply desire to be in a meaningful relationship with God.”
“It was a great day and profoundly grace-filled,” he said.
Students, teachers, and chaperones of Owensboro Catholic Schools are seen sitting in the stands and waiting for the beatification Mass to begin in the afternoon of Sept. 24, 2026. The group, which included 44 students, traveled to The Dome in St. Louis for the beatification of Bl. Fulton J. Sheen. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
