– Tej Francis
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
FULTON SHEEN’S REMAINS ARRIVE IN PEORIA; SAINTHOOD CAUSE RESUMES
(CNA) Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s remains have been transferred from the Archdiocese of New York to Peoria, Illinois, after three years of litigation, clearing the way for the former archbishop’s sainthood cause to go forward.Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria announced today that Sheen’s remains had been transferred from St. Patrick Cathedral, New York, to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria.
“Church law requires that the transfer of the remains of one considered for beatification must…be done without any solemnity,” a June 27 release from the diocese explained.“As a result, the transfer could not be publicized in advance. Also, no liturgical ceremony or public gathering could be held during the transfer. Therefore, the transfer of the remains was done without prior public notice.”The diocese also announced that Sheen’s Cause for Beatification, the next step on the road to sainthood, had resumed.
“Bishop Jenky has notified the Vatican indicating that civil litigation has ended, and that Sheen’s remains have been transferred. The Vatican has confirmed that the Cause for Beatification has now resumed,” the release continues.The next step will be for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints in Rome to present the alleged miracle attributed to Sheen’s intercession— the miraculous healing of an infant declared to be stillborn— to Pope Francis for his decree authenticating it.Sheen’s remains will be encased into a marble monument inside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, located at the side altar dedicated to the Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help— on whose feast day, June 27, the archbishop’s disinterment took place.
AUSTRALIA
DUE TO BACKLASH, PELL TO LIVE IN ‘SECURE COMPOUND’ IF APPEAL SUCCEEDS
(Catholic News Agency) While Cardinal George Pell of Australia is appealing his sexual abuse conviction in court, he and his supporters are making arrangements for a “safe hideaway” for the cleric, should his conviction be overturned.According to The Australian, the risk of backlash and threats against the cardinal are so high that he is seeking a “secure compound” in which to live, should his appeal succeed in court. Some possibilities for this place would include an undisclosed location in New South Wales in south-eastern Australia, or somewhere in Rome, where he previously lived and worked as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, the report noted. He would not reassume his Vatican position.
The Australian noted that one possible safe place for Pell to live, should his conviction overturn, would be a seminary in Sydney, where he stayed as he awaited trial. The difficulty with placing the high-profile cardinal in Australia is that he is easily recognized. After having been convicted of five counts of sexual abuse of a minor in December 2018, Cardinal Pell was sentenced to serve six years in prison in March. Pell has been held in solitary confinement in the Melbourne Assessment Prison since then. According to the Vatican, Pell has been barred from public ministry and from contact with minors during the entire legal process of the case, including the appeal. The Vatican opened an internal investigation into Pell following his conviction, but they have said that Pell has the right to maintain his innocence until the “last stage of appeal.”
ROME, ITALY
GLOBAL ROSARY RELAY AIMS AT 1 BILLION HAIL MARYS FOR PRIESTS
(CNA) The Global Rosary Relay aims to have 1 billion Hail Marys said for the sanctification of priests June 28, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.“This is the world family all joining together as one on Friday and praying for the sanctification of our priests,” Global Rosary Relay founder and organizer Marion Mulhall told CNA June 27.With prayer locations in more than 70 countries this year, the relay is carefully timed with the recitation of the rosary every half hour.The relay begins with the joyful mysteries in South Korea and then is passed off to Russia for the luminous mysteries, followed by the sorrowful mysteries in China before continuing on to India, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Israel, and many other countries across Europe and the Americas.
“Ten years ago when we began the global rosary relay, we had 24 single locations in 24 countries for the 24 hour clock. This year we have 255 single prayer locations in every single corner of the planet,” Mulhall said. “The whole world is in prayer the whole day.Anybody who prays the rosary on Friday — it doesn’t matter what time it is or where they are — can be pretty much guaranteed that they are joining, even if they may not realize it, with a participating prayer location around the world,” she said.
Mulhall explained that she felt personally called 25 years ago to “promote the priesthood at any price,” and this led to the creation of the World Priest Apostolate which organized campaigns to pray for priests for many years before starting the Global Rosary Relay ten years ago.Saint Pope John Paul II declared the Feast of the Sacred Heart to be the World Day of Prayer for Priests in 2002. In 2016, the final rosary of the relay was led by the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.This year, a rosary will be said in Rome at 6pm local time for Pope Francis and his intentions.
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