The National Register portal reports on the resumed beatification process of Archbishop Fulton Sheen under Pope Leo XIV, with author Paul Kengor speculating that the new American “pope” may advance Sheen’s cause after a delay during the Francis pontificate. The article celebrates Sheen as “America’s Bishop” and highlights his media influence, while noting the Sept. 24, 2026, beatification date in St. Louis. Yet this narrative ignores Sheen’s deep entanglement with the very modernist forces that have devastated the Church since Vatican II, rendering his proposed “sainthood” not merely suspect but spiritually dangerous.
The Myth of “America’s Bishop”
Paul Kengor’s hagiographic portrayal of Fulton Sheen as a beloved Catholic communicator obscures the archbishop’s troubling legacy. Sheen was no stalwart defender of immutable Tradition; rather, he was a prominent figure who embraced and promoted the revolutionary changes that followed the Second Vatican Council. His famous television program, “Life Is Worth Living,” which aired from 1952 to 1957, indeed reached millions, but it was precisely during this period that Sheen began to exhibit the modernist tendencies that would define his later career.
Sheen’s theological evolution mirrors the trajectory of the conciliar Church itself. Once a respected Thomist scholar, he gradually shifted toward a more accommodative stance regarding ecumenism, religious liberty, and dialogue with the modern world—hallmarks of the very errors condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors and by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu. The notion that Sheen should be held up as a model of Catholic orthodoxy is not merely mistaken; it is a deliberate inversion of reality designed to legitimize the post-conciliar apostasy.
The Beatification Charade
The article notes that Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession in July 2019, only for the beatification to be delayed due to concerns about Sheen’s handling of clergy sex abuse cases during his tenure as Bishop of Rochester. This delay, the author suggests, was “mysterious” and “controversial,” implying some nefarious plot against a holy man. However, the truth is far simpler: Sheen’s record on abuse was indeed problematic, and any responsible investigation would have raised serious questions about his fitness for public veneration.
More fundamentally, the entire concept of “beatification” within the conciliar structure is devoid of binding authority. As the sedevacantist position articulated in the Defense of Sedevacantism demonstrates, a manifest heretic—which includes any “pope” who promotes the errors of Vatican II—loses his office automatically (ipso facto) and cannot perform any valid juridical acts. Leo XIV, as a product of the conciliar revolution and a participant in its governance, possesses no authority to declare anyone blessed, much less a saint. His “beatification” of Sheen is therefore null and void, a theatrical gesture meant to bolster the legitimacy of the neo-church.
Sheen’s Modernist Pedigree
Fulton Sheen’s theological journey is a case study in the corruption of Catholic thought by modernism. In his early career, he was known for his staunch anti-communism and his defense of traditional doctrine. However, by the time of Vatican II, Sheen had become an enthusiastic advocate for the Council’s reforms, particularly in the areas of ecumenism and religious liberty. He played a key role in drafting Dignitatis Humanae, the conciliar declaration on religious freedom, which explicitly contradicts the teaching of Pope Leo XIII in Libertas and Pope Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos.
Sheen’s embrace of ecumenism was equally problematic. He participated in numerous interfaith dialogues and events, often blurring the lines between Catholicism and other religions in ways that violated the Church’s perennial teaching that there is no salvation outside the Church (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus). His famous dictum, “There are not 100 million Catholics in America, but 100 million Americans who should be Catholics,” while seemingly orthodox, was in practice a call for accommodation rather than conversion, reflecting the indifferentism condemned by Pius IX.
The Illusion of Continuity
Paul Kengor’s suggestion that Leo XIV might advance Sheen’s cause because both are Americans and share a common Illinois heritage is a perfect example of the conciliar obsession with superficial continuity. The article notes that Sheen grew up in Peoria and Leo in Dolton, both in Illinois, as if geographic proximity were a guarantor of doctrinal fidelity. This is not Catholic theology; it is American civil religion, a sentimental nationalism that substitutes ethnic and regional identity for supernatural faith.
The true measure of a Catholic’s worth is not his nationality or his media savvy but his adherence to the unchanging Deposit of Faith. By this standard, Fulton Sheen fails catastrophically. His support for Vatican II, his role in promoting religious liberty, and his ecumenical activities place him squarely in the camp of the modernists, whom St. Pius X described as “the synthesis of all heresies.” To propose such a man for canonization is not merely an error; it is a blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, who guides the Church into all truth.
The Danger of False Models
The push to beatify Sheen is part of a broader strategy by the conciliar authorities to create a pantheon of “saints” who embody the spirit of Vatican II. Just as John Paul II was “canonized” despite his numerous heresies and scandalous behavior, and just as John Henry Newman was elevated despite his explicit rejection of papal infallibility, so too is Sheen being groomed as a model for the neo-church. These “saints” serve a dual purpose: they provide a veneer of sanctity to the conciliar revolution, and they divert attention from the true heroes of the faith—the martyrs and confessors who resisted modernism at the cost of their reputations and often their lives.
For Catholics who remain faithful to Tradition, the proposed beatification of Fulton Sheen is not a cause for celebration but a call to vigilance. It is yet another sign of the abomination of desolation that has taken root in the structures occupying the Vatican. Our duty is not to mourn the delay of this farcical process but to reject it entirely, along with the entire conciliar edifice that produced it.
Conclusion: Return to True Sanctity
The beatification of Fulton Sheen is not a step toward the restoration of Catholic order; it is a consolidation of the modernist takeover. Catholics who desire true holiness must look not to the architects of Vatican II but to the saints of the pre-conciliar era: St. Pius X, who fought modernism tooth and nail; St. Robert Bellarmine, who defended the rights of the papacy against the errors of his time; and the countless martyrs who shed their blood rather than compromise the Faith. These are the models we must follow, not the media-savvy compromisers who paved the way for the current crisis.
Let us pray for the true Church, which endures in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith and are led by bishops with valid sacraments and validly ordained priests. Let us reject the false sanctity of the conciliar sect and cling to the unchanging Tradition that has been handed down to us from the Apostles. Only thus can we hope to see the restoration of Christ’s Kingdom on earth, which is possible only through the triumph of the Most Holy Rosary and the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary—not the watered-down, ecumenical version promoted by the false Fatima, but the true message of conversion and reparation that the modernists have sought to suppress.
Source:
What Pope Leo Means for Fulton Sheen (ncregister.com)
Date: 17.06.2026