A group from the Keokuk Deanery poses with a cutout of Blessed Fulton Sheen during his beatification Sept. 24 in St. Louis. Pictured are, from left, Deacon Mike Linnenbrink, Joe and Becky Moran, Linda Pieper, Karen Cavanaugh and Father Hai Dinh.
By Anne Marie Amacher, Lindsay Steele and Dan Russo
The Catholic Messenger
(Part 1 in a series.)
LOUIS — Catholics from around the Davenport Diocese, Iowa, were among the 50,000 people who took part in the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen Sept. 24 at The Dome at America’s Center.
“Archbishop Fulton Sheen is such a big part of the American Catholic story,” reflected Bishop Dennis Walsh as he recalled the experience. “I have known of Sheen even when I was a young child. I remember when he died. It was big news. I went because his body is interred in Peoria (Illinois), our neighbor to the east. I have visited his shrine several times. I often take my friends and family there when they come for a visit. I just wanted to be there for the celebration. I concelebrated the liturgy with my brother bishops.”
The Mass held that day included a special moment acknowledging the Church-approved miracle required for beatification.
“When the (archbishop’s) relic was brought forward by James (Fulton) Engstrom and his family, it was quite moving,” said Bishop Walsh. “James was the officially recognized miracle that cleared the way for Sheen’s beatification. When James was born, he was born without a heartbeat. For 61 minutes, he had no pulse,” explained Bishop Walsh. “Throughout her pregnancy, his mother, Bonnie, prayed for the intercession of Bishop Sheen. In that moment of crises in the hospital she implored his help again. Just when the doctors were preparing to pronounce him dead, young James took a breath and his heart rate stabilized …”
A mother and daughter
Sophia Garcia poses near at sign at The Dome at the Americas Center in St. Louis Sept. 24. She attended the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen with her mom, Esmeralda Guerrero, administrative assistant for the social action office.
As the gathering was reminded of this remarkable story of a mother and son, Esmeralda Guerrero, administrative assistant for the Diocese of Davenport’s social action department, and her daughter, Sophia Garcia, a freshman at Alleman High School in Rock Island, Illinois, observed from their seats high above in the packed stadium.
“I chose to go because I knew it was going to be a fun event and that it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Sophia said.
“I have never had the opportunity to experience anything like this. Deacon Kent (Ferris, director of social action) mentioned the event and told me a little bit of who Archbishop Sheen was and that he had been the director of Propagation of Faith,” Guerrero said. “Then Kent mentioned that this will be a great experience for Sophia and me to be able to attend this event due to the work we do in the office. Deacon Kent thought of taking Sophia because over the years Sophia has assisted with the sorting and reading of the mission appeals that come to our office every year.”
The large crowd included about 1,600 men and women religious, 800 seminarians, 1,000 priests, 90 bishops and 250 deacons.
“It was very beautiful to see so many clergy processing in — you just kept seen them coming and you thought it was almost the end and no they just kept on coming.” The unveiling of the portrait and seen the simultaneous unsealing at the cathedral in Peoria “was so beautiful.”
For Sophia, the unveiling of Sheen’s official portrait was memorable too.
“The atmosphere was very welcoming and at the same time crowded,” said Guerrero. “There was prayer of the rosary in different languages and also artists singing religious songs. We were far away from the altar, but at the same time we felt close.”
The mother and daughter attended part of the pre-Mass show and listened to some of the performers.
“It was definitely worth missing school because as I explained to my mom earlier, you can go to school every day but it is not every day you can attend a beatification especially sort of close to home,” Sophia said.
Keokuk deanery
Deacon Mike Linnenbrink, who serves the Together in Christ parishes in Houghton, St. Paul, Fort Madison and Farmington, and Father Hai Dinh, pastor of Church of All Saints Parish in Keokuk, led a small group from the Keokuk Deanery that drove to St. Louis together.
“The music, the crowds and the holiness of the moment brought tears to my eyes,” said Karen Cavanaugh from St John the Baptist Church, Houghton. “Cardinal (Luis Antonio) Tagle’s homily had a couple humorous moments that made me laugh. … The Mass was amazing! The attendees were gifted with bags containing two books, the program and a special ‘World Rosary’ with five different colored decades for the five different areas of the world for which we need to pray. As we left, we were given a holy card with the official portrait of Blessed Fulton Sheen.”
Deacon Linnenbrink felt “humbled and fortunate to be part of the Holy Mass as a deacon.”
“The procession alone was as long as some Masses!” he exclaimed. “The Beatification Mass of Blessed Sheen is so hard to explain, with pictures not being able to do it justice.”
The deacon was also struck by the cardinal’s homily, which included stories from Sheen’s life and TV shows.
“I encourage everyone to listen and watch this homily and then listen to Blessed Sheen’s TV sessions that are referenced in the homily,” he said.
Friends from the Quad Cities
Harper Miller of Davenport smiles with Bishop Dennis Walsh Sept. 24 at The Dome at the Americas Center in St. Louis. Both were among thousands attending the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen.
Harper Miller, a senior from Assumption High School in Davenport and member of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, jumped at the chance to go to the events after learning that a friend’s grandparents had an extra ticket.
“Before the Mass, I accidentally walked into adoration and was given the chance to adore Jesus with hundreds of others,” she said. “I witnessed that fire first hand. So many people gathered to celebrate the life of a man who loved Jesus so much — striving to love Jesus just as much.”
A highlight was the multilingual section of the Mass — the readings and petitions.
“To experience the love of Jesus spoken in not only English, but Spanish, French, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese was truly something out of this world,” the student reflected. “I learned not only there were so many others that were on fire for their faith — but also the youth. There were so many kids my age, and it gave me hope to know our generation loves and adores Jesus just as much as prior generations did … Praise God for this incredible experience, and praise God, he led me home to the Catholic Church,” said the Catholic convert.
Another bus trip headed to the beautification from St. Mary Parish in Moline, Illinois. The group included people from across the Quad Cities area.
“The beatification, for me, was more a matter of seeing all these people who want to be sanctified and want to sanctify the world around them,” reflected Marco Romero of Davenport, an Episcopalian who joined Catholic friends on the journey. “I was certainly awestruck by the presence of the jaw of Fulton Sheen, but more so, I was awestruck to be in the presence of people who were living their lives in hope of sanctification, coming together to celebrate a brother who won the race set before him. For me, the beatification was a grace of being in the presence of living members of the body of Christ: those who are living in Heaven fully and extravagantly, and we who are still the Church militant ….”
Spirit ‘truly moving’
Bishop Walsh was also present at vespers the night before the Mass. There, Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, delivered the homily.
“The overall experience was one of tremendous joy,” Bishop Walsh said. “…The convention center was opened early. It was so edifying to see a whole convention hall filled with priests hearing confessions. Hundreds, if not thousands, were lined up to go to confession. Another convention hall was filled with displays and booths sponsored by different Catholic organizations. A great spirit of celebration,” Bishop Walsh said.
“As I walked through the convention center so many people, young people especially, were coming up to me asking for a blessing of their rosaries or even on themselves and their families,” he continued. “…I was deeply moved by the number of young people who were there — from the very young to college students. It certainly reinforced for me the perception that the spirit is truly moving within the Church and especially in the hearts of the young.”
(Editor’s Note: The Catholic Messenger received reflections from people around the Davenport Diocese who attended Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification. This is part one of our coverage of this event. Part 2 will be published in next week’s issue.)
