NY church agrees to move Fulton Sheen’s remains to Illinois

Jun 10, 2019

|Associated Press

NY church agrees to move Fulton Sheen’s remains to Illinois — In this Dec. 11, 2011 file photo, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky, center, gives a sermon next to a painting of Archbishop Fulton John Sheen and the sealed box of documentation for the alleged miracle performed by Sheen, during a Mass at Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill. (Credit: Eve Edelheit/Journal Star via AP.)

NEW YORK — Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is going home.

The Catholic Archdiocese of New York said Sunday it’ll cooperate in transferring Sheen’s remains from Manhattan to Peoria, Illinois, after a court ruled Sheen’s niece could bury him there.

Sheen, known for his revolutionary radio and TV preaching, has been interred under St. Patrick’s Cathedral’s altar since his 1979 death.

Sheen’s niece, Joan Cunningham, argued that burying him in Peoria, where he was ordained 100 years ago, would improve his chances at sainthood.

The archdiocese countered that a will Sheen signed five days before his death included his desire to be buried in New York. The archdiocese said it had a “solemn obligation” to comply.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria said that Bishop Daniel Jenky was “grateful” the archdiocese has now agreed to move Sheen’s remains.

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