Your gift last year allowed the work of the Roman Postulator, Dr. Andrea Ambrosi to continue, nearly to completion. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised to ad-vance the work of the Positio —the multi-volume, multi-thousand page document outlining the reason why we believe that Fulton Sheen should be declared a blessed and saint of the Catholic Church. This document is nearly ready to go to print. Cop-ies of these volumes will then be reviewed by the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of the Saints — and then onto the Holy Father.
Your financial gifts in 2011 will allow Dr. Ambrosi to finish the Positio (printing costs alone are incredibly expensive!). Your generosity then will enable our Postulator to begin the canonical review of the alleged miracle which will be presented to the Pope for his judgment. Your gift makes this Cause possible!
Your gift also makes possible the Foundation’s work of evangelization through Archbishop Sheen’s life and work. Through our regular newsletters, holy cards, documentary DVD, and our new COMIC BOOK, you can help Fulton Sheen to preach the Gospel in today’s world.
Last year, you helped to bring Fulton Sheen’s priestly spirituality to the 5,000 semi-narians studying to be priests in the United States. Copies of Sheen’s book The Priest is Not His Own were sent to the seminaries as part of the Year for Priests cele-bration. Thank you for being a true friend of Archbishop Sheen!
Your prayers, sacrifices and financial generosity directly makes possible the work to advance the Cause for the Canonization of Archbishop Sheen, and to lead others to Christ through Sheen’s life and legacy.
A Note from Msgr. Stanley Deptula, Executive Director of the Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation
Thank you for your generous and dedicated support for the cause to see Archbishop Sheen declared a saint of the Catholic Church. Your prayers and financial gifts make the advancement of the cause possible. You are personally part of this historic and spiritual work. Besides the exciting progress of our Postulator in Rome, your gift and prayers also advance the work of the Foundation to lead others to Christ through Sheen’s life and message.
In the past few years, you have helped bring thousands of Sheen’s Wartime Prayer books to our servicemen and women. Many military chaplains have sent deeply moving notes about how much this little book means to our military personnel. Your generosity also helped to make Fulton Sheen part of the formation of our future priests. Every seminarian studying for US dioceses and religious orders was sent a copy of Sheen’s classic The Priest is Not His Own in 2010.
The months ahead promise to be just as exciting. After the review by the Cardinals, Bishops and theologians of the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints, the documentation for the beatification should be presented to the Pope in 2011. And new outreach efforts are being planned to bring Sheen’s message to the younger generation.
You may have heard that the Foundation had asked for the work in Rome to be paused while some important questions get worked out regarding the hoped-for transfer of Archbishop Sheen’s tomb to the Cathedral in Peoria. These questions remain, but at the end of January, Bishop Jenky, president of the Foundation, expressed the unwavering commitment of the Foundation to continuing the important work of the Cause. The Cause is moving ahead. As executive director, I am deeply humbled to serve God and His Church in this process of canonization — and I am so happy to have each of you as co-workers in the Cause.
May God bless you for your generosity!
