"Tug of war, ping!"
Posted on 11/25/2016 2:26:09 PM PST by NYer
The Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral will appeal a Nov. 17 ruling by the Supreme Court of the State of New York in favor of the family of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen regarding their request to allow the transfer of the sainthood candidate’s remains to Peoria, Ill., where he was raised and ordained a priest.
“The Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, who oversee both Calvary Cemetery and the crypt beneath the high altar of the cathedral, have decided to appeal the judge’s decision, and will be seeking a stay of the order allowing the transfer of Archbishop Sheen’s earthly remains until the appeal is decided,” said a statement issued Nov. 22 by John M. Callagy of Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP in Manhattan, an outside counsel representing the archdiocese for the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“We are confident that we will present substantial reasons for the Appeals Court to overturn the initial decision.”
On Nov. 1, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arlene Bluth heard arguments in favor of the transfer from lawyers for Archbishop Sheen’s niece, Joan Sheen Cunningham, as well as those from the Archdiocese of New York, which sought to keep the remains of the famed orator and media pioneer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where he was entombed following his death on Dec. 9, 1979.
In June, the Archdiocese of New York repeated its hope that the Diocese of Peoria would reopen the sainthood cause of Archbishop Sheen, which has been indefinitely suspended by the Diocese of Peoria for two years.
That followed the Sheen family’s petition, also in June, to the Supreme Court of the State of New York to allow the transfer of the sainthood candidate’s remains to Peoria,
Ms. Sheen Cunningham, Archbishop Sheen’s oldest living relative, filed a petition June 13 asking that the Trustees of St. Patrick’s Cathedral—where Archbishop Sheen has been entombed in a crypt, in keeping with the archbishop’s request that he be buried in New York—and the Archdiocese of New York allow his remains to be disinterred and transferred to Peoria for interment in a crypt at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
Cardinal Dolan, in a CNY interview in June, said that the Congregation for Saints’ Causes has made clear that the location of the body is out of its jurisdiction, and that the transfer of the body is not essential to the progress of the cause. The cardinal noted “the cause of beatification is concerned about where the immortal soul is, not the body.”
Archbishop Sheen, a native of El Paso, Ill., was born in 1895 and ordained for the Peoria Diocese in 1919. He became a radio and television pioneer, winning the 1951 Emmy for outstanding television personality for his show “Life Is Worth Living.” The renowned charismatic preacher also hosted a nighttime radio show, “The Catholic Hour,” for 20 years.
For 16 years in the 1950s and 1960s, as auxiliary bishop of New York, he was an advocate for the Church’s missionary work through his leadership of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the United States, where he served as the national director in Manhattan. He was bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1966 to 1969.
Tug of war, ping!
I sympathize with his family, although I wonder a bit about what their motives are, but I think he belongs where he is.
His will specified burial in a New York cemetary, not the cathedral.
backstory is NYC diocese trying to block investigations if he is a saint.
I had the views of the “family” completely reversed. I thought they wanted the good bishop’s remains interred in a family buriel, in New York, and sympatico with Cardinal Dolan.
Peoria was devoted to Bishop Sheen, enough that it was they who pursued to Rome his name and place among sainthood. Then bigfooted Cardinal Dolan sat on the removal of the deceased bishop to Peoria, required for their cause for sainthood.
I agree with Cardinal Dolan in this dispute - I have been many times to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (but never have been to Peoria) and can’t think of a better place to hold his earthly remains.
If one should raise his eyes to the ceiling, they will find many Cardinal’s red hats hanging from the rafters, all Holy men who served God. They are all buried with their Pallium and the crypt itself is a sacred space.
Venerable Archbishop Sheen took his last breath before the Monstrance in his private chapel at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. From the day of his Ordination, he never missed daily Eucharist Adoration. Not once!
P.S. Why Is the Diocese of Rochester not getting involved?
I expect if his body were to be exhumed, it will be found to be incorrupt. I strongly recommend to everybody to visit the Cathedral, especially the crypt.
Thank you for posting.
big draw to the Cathedral, brings in $$$$$$
ROFL!!! You made my day.
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