Last week, in St. Louis, Missouri, the Catholic Church celebrated the beatification of the first American born Bishop—Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
It was a beautiful moment that I witnessed firsthand. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, serving as the papal delegate for Pope Leo XIV, proclaimed Sheen Blessed in the presence of Archbishop Gabriel Caccia, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, scores of bishops, approximately 1,000 priests, hundreds of religious sisters and almost 50,000 lay faithful.
St. Louis was chosen because no venue in Peoria, Sheen’s home diocese, could accommodate the crowd. The pageantry was extraordinary, but the liturgy itself was even more powerful. It was a visible expression of the unity of the Catholic Church: people from every state and from many nations gathered around one altar, one Eucharist, and one apostolic faith.
The Napa Institute was privileged to host a suite for about 75 people. Many guests joined us during the pre-liturgy events, which brought together the fraternity of Catholic lay apostolates and committed Catholics who had come to honor Archbishop Sheen.
We enjoyed the company of Catholic singers Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger; David Henrie, chair of our Arts Festival, together with his Novo Studios team; Abby Johnson; President Kilpatrick; Alessandro DeSantis, co-founder of Hallow; Frank Hanna, a longtime supporter of the Napa Institute; and many others.
Bill and Dr. Ira DeWitt, owners of the St. Louis Cardinals, hosted us the previous evening for dinner at Busch Stadium. Napa also hosted a dinner after the beautification for 60 friends as a Come and See gathering, including Cardinal Tagle’s niece.
Those three days made visible something I have always known but perhaps never felt so intensely: we are the only Church with a universal Magisterium. By that I mean that the Catholic Church has a single apostolic teaching office entrusted to the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. Its teaching is articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the encyclicals and other documents of the Church, all rooted in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
The same is true of the Mass. The Roman Missal provides a common structure, prayers, and readings, all celebrated throughout the world, while allowing legitimate variations in language, music, and certain approved options. Around the world, a Catholic can enter a church and recognize the same sacrifice of Christ.
This common liturgy is one of the great sources of our unity. So is the Eucharist, and so are the teachings handed down through the Church. Saint Paul reminds us that there are different gifts but the same Spirit, different forms of service but the same Lord, and different workings but the same God. We are not required to have identical personalities or vocations in order to be one. We are called to be unified in the truth of Christ.
That unity rests on the shepherding office Christ entrusted to Peter in a particular way. Jesus remains the one Good Shepherd, yet He gave Peter a unique pastoral charge: “Feed my sheep.” Through the apostolic succession of the bishops and the ministry of the popes, that visible bond continues from Saint Peter to Pope Leo XIV.
When we witness a beatification Mass celebrated by a papal delegate and joined by bishops, priests, religious, and laity, we see that apostolic continuity made tangible. The joy of such a celebration is difficult to describe. Many people said it felt like heaven on earth. In a real sense, it was a foretaste of heaven, where we hope to worship Jesus Christ forever.
The Mass is not merely a remembrance of Calvary. It makes present sacramentally the one sacrifice of Christ. Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., has explained that the Eucharist brings us into contact with the same Christ who gave Himself on the Cross, not as a repetition of Calvary but as its sacramental presence across time. How, then, could we be bored at Mass? Even when the music, preaching, or surroundings are imperfect, Jesus is at the center. He is the One who unifies us.
As we approach the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ public ministry in 2030 and of His Passion, death, and Resurrection in 2033, providential opportunities for Christian unity will continue to emerge. The Napa Institute has an opportunity to bring people together in prayer, education, and fraternity. The renewed interest in faith and the conversions being reported in churches throughout the country are not a coincidence. They are signs of God’s grace and mercy.
I am confident that, in God’s providence, the Catholic Church will approve another miracle through Blessed Fulton Sheen’s intercession—paving the way for his canonization. That decision belongs to Pope Leo XIV and to the Church’s careful discernment.
In the meantime, we have received a new intercessor: Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, pray for us.
