Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka presented a relic of Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to Rochester Bishop John Bonnici on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
The presentation, which followed Sheen's beatification in St. Louis
on Sept. 24, occurred during a Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral, where Sheen had been installed as Rochester's sixth bishop on Dec. 15, 1966.
"I believe in a very particular way, the Diocese of Rochester, holds a place in his heart," Tylka said during his homily.
"… It's clear to me from my understanding, reading and encountering Fulton Sheen that he loved and carried the cross so close to his heart that the church has finally said, 'You are Blessed.'"
Tylka added, "He was a defender of the faith and he preached the truth. That is why his message was so powerful today as it was when he was on the radio."
Tylka's diocese, which is spearheading Sheen's canonization drive, is investigating several healings to see whether they could be declared miracles. If so, Sheen could be canonized as a saint.
Joining in celebrating the Mass were Rochester Bishop Emeritus Salvatore Matano; Abbot Gerard D'Souza of the Abbey of the Genesee; and four priests who had been ordained by Sheen, the Rev. Robert L. Beligotti, the Rev. William G. Endres, the Rev. Frank E. Lioi and the Very Rev. James A. "Jim" Schwartz.
Seminarians, the Knights of Columbus Honor Guard, the Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver joined the procession. The cathedral was filled with area Catholics, many of whom prayed after Mass before the relic.
Bonnici plans to take the relic on a tour of the diocese to allow Catholics to venerate Sheen. Each relic will be shown during Masses that begin at 7 p.m. The dates will be:
- Thursday, Oct. 1: St. Stephen Church, 48 Pulteney St., Geneva.
- Wednesday, Oct. 7: St. John the Evangelist Parish, 55 Martha St., Spencerport.
- Tuesday, Oct. 13: St. Mary, 4 Avon-Geneseo Road, Geneseo
- Wednesday, Oct. 28: St. Joseph, 43 Gebhardt Road, Penfield.
- Thursday, Oct. 29: St. Mary Our Mother, 816 W. Broad St., Horseheads.
- Wednesday, Nov. 4: Immaculate Conception, 113 N. Geneva St., Ithaca.
Afterward, the relic will remain at Sacred Heart.
Toward the end of Tuesday's Mass, Bonnici asked everyone to pray to Sheen daily for vocations to the priesthood and sisterhood. He encouraged young people to pray to God for guidance.
Bonnici, Matano and several Rochester-area priests participated in the beatification service and other events beforehand and afterward.
In an earlier interview, Bonnici, the diocese's 10th bishop, said it was "humble and hopeful" to be following in the footsteps of a potential saint.
It was humble because "Bishop Sheen is certainly a figure that so many recognize here in the United States and in the world. … He was way ahead of his time. Anybody that could boot Milton Berle off the ratings list certainly had many gifts. So, it is definitely humbling.
Hopeful in the sense that you know he was not perfect. and right especially as as a bishop of Rochester, and he admits that in his autobiography very freely. … And despite … not being perfect, he's being beatified, so there's hope for me yet."
Bonnici was a 14-year-old at a seminary high school on Oct. 2, 1979, when he and his classmates were given tickets to stand on the front steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City during St. Pope John Paul II's visit. The cathedral was packed and speakers were set up outside.At one point, "there was a roar in the cathedral we could hear," he said. It turned out to be when the pope embraced Sheen and told him, according to the Catholic University of America website, “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church!”
Sheen died two months later.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Fulton Sheen relic comes to Rochester after beatification
