Nearly half a century after his death, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the celebrated television priest who drew millions of viewers, may be moving closer to sainthood following an Illinois mother’s claim that he helped save her newborn son’s life.
Bonnie and Travis Engstrom say they turned to Sheen in prayer in 2010 after their son showed no signs of life and medical workers struggled to revive him.
According to Bonnie, doctors were preparing to note the baby’s time of death when they unexpectedly detected a faint heartbeat. The child’s heart then began beating normally, a recovery the Engstroms believe came after their urgent prayers asking for Sheen’s intercession.
‘That was kind of the beginning of a beautiful relationship,’ Engstrom told AP.
Roughly 16 years later, James is a healthy teenager and the third of the Engstroms’ eight children.
James now spends his time playing basketball, riding his bike and studying weather reports. He has also maintained a strong devotion to Sheen, telling Catholic media: ‘He’s my protector.’
Bonnie said she sees the event first and foremost as an act of Christ. ‘I attribute the miracle to Jesus Christ. But I firmly believe that Jesus allowed Fulton Sheen’s prayers and presence to play an integral part in it.’
The Catholic Church has recognized James’s survival as a ‘miracle,’ clearing the way for Sheen to be beatified, one of the major steps on the path to sainthood.
Sheen, who was born in Illinois in 1895 and died in New York in 1979, is also known as the first ‘televangelist’
Bonnie Engstrom gave birth to a stillborn child in 2010. She claims the prayers she and her husband sent to Sheen led to the ‘miracle’ of her son’s survival
Sheen was one of the Catholic church’s most famous priests. He had an own radio and television show, won an Emmy award and appeared in the cover of Time magazine in 1952
Sainthood recognizes a ‘heroic witness of faith,’ Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka told AP. The church typically requires authentication of one miracle for beatification – such as what it deems a medically unexplainable cure attributed to prayers to the candidate.
After Sheen’s beatification was delayed for years, Engstrom and locals from Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois, are preparing for a service on September 24. Pope Leo XIV – also from Illinois – approved the beatification in February after years of delays.
Although Pope Francis confirmed the Engstrom case as a miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession, the Vatican postponed a scheduled beatification ceremony back in 2019.
The delay was caused by a request from the Diocese of Rochester due to legal investigations into sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic church across New York state.
Church officials later concluded that Sheen’s record gave no cause for further delay, and plans for the ceremony resumed.
Engstrom said: ‘We will all be at the beatification, and we’re super excited.
‘The whole family will accompany him, which is special because in a lot of ways the whole family has walked with him through this whole process.’
Her son James will carry a relic of Sheen at the ceremony, which tens of thousands are expected to attend.
Sheen was born in 1895 in the small town of El Paso, Illinois, and raised in Peoria.
Throughout his life, Sheen became one of the most famous religious leaders and was particularly known for being a pioneer in broadcasting Catholicism.
Monsignor Jason Gray who is the executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J Sheen Foundation called Sheen the ‘first televangelist in the United States.’
Pope Francis originally approved the miracle performed by Sheen but the beatification was delayed. A recent decision by Pope Leo XIV approved the beatification in February after years of delays
The beatification event is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors which is why the ceremony will be held in St Louis, Illinois
Between 1930 and 1950, Sheen hosted The Catholic Hour on the NBC radio network which reached an audience of around four million.
Sheen also had his own TV show, Life is Worth Living, which competed with entertainers like Frank Sinatra and won him an Emmy award. He even appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1952.
Sheen raised funds and traveled the world on behalf of Catholic missions. He served as a bishop in New York state, retiring as an archbishop.
After his death in 1979, he was buried at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York until his niece won a court battle in 2019 to move his body to Peoria’s Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception.
Pilgrims today place crucifixes and other items on his marble tomb, giving them status as relics.
The beatification will take place in St Louis as the ceremony is expected to be too big for Peoria.
