It is with great joy that The Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation announces that The Positio, bound in a white silk cover which summarizes the life and holiness of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC of Peoria, Illinois on May 25, 2011 at the end of the pope’s weekly general audience.
The Positio, or position paper, will be filed formally with the Congregation for Saints’ Causes as the initial step in the Vatican’s process to determine whether Archbishop Sheen should be beatified and canonized.
Born in El Paso, Illinois and raised in Peoria, Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 1919. Bishop Jenky became the Bishop of Competence and sponsor of the Cause in 2002. Now as President of the Archbishop Sheen Foundation he continues to oversee the Cause.
Msgr. Stanley Deptula, Executive Director of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation reported that, “once the Congregation for Saints’ Causes officially approves the Positio they will begin the investigation into an alleged healing. The Foundation believes the healing is a miracle granted through the late Archbishop’s intercession”.
Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Vice Postulator for the Cause noted that, “America is in need of a Saint like Archbishop Sheen. He brought so many people closer to Christ during his life here on earth and continues to do so even today through his many writings, television and radio shows”.
Those to accompany Bishop Jenky in the presentation will be Msgr. Stanley Deptula, Executive Director of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, Vice Postulator of the Cause of Archbishop Sheen, Msgr. Richard Soseman, Foreign Liaison of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, Dr. Louis Varela, chairman of the Board of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation and Maria Alicia Varela, Board Member of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation
