Editor’s Note: Please find Cardinal Luis Tagle’s full homily for the beatification Mass of Fulton J. Sheen on Sept, 24, 2026. It is edited for length and clarity.
Dear brothers and sisters, we thank our loving God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — who has gathered us as a family of faith on the solemn occasion of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, son of Illinois, son of the United States of America — indeed, son of the world.
I bring to you the paternal greetings of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, who rejoices at the beatification of his fellow countryman, his fellow Illinoisan, and brother bishop. Let us pray for the Holy Father’s pastoral visit to France.
Pope Leo’s apostolic letter declaring that Archbishop Fulton Sheen may henceforth be called “Blessed” describes the archbishop as “a tireless preacher of the Gospel through the modern means of communication and a diligent shepherd animated by missionary zeal.”
What a description! Among many of his virtues and ministries, two stand out: his being an evangelizer — a proclaimer of the Gospel — and his being a missionary shepherd. It is not surprising that the three liturgical readings for today’s Mass
