Documentation of two alleged miracles being attributed to the intercession of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen — one involving a woman in Champaign who, ironically, died this week and the other a baby in Pittsburgh — are on their way to Rome as the cause for sainthood of the famous native of the Diocese of Peoria advances.
In an historic ceremony Sunday in Peoria witnessed by several members of the Sheen family as well as officials promoting the sainthood cause, folders containing more than 500 pages of witness testimony and medical data regarding the Champaign case were packaged and sealed. The prayerful, legal proceeding completed the gathering of facts in the case and was held in the diocesan pastoral center named for Archbishop Sheen.
A similar ceremony was to take place Thursday in Pittsburgh.
THE DOCUMENTS sealed in Peoria tell the story of the recovery of Therese Kearney, a member of Holy Cross Parish in Champaign, who suffered a tear in her main pulmonary artery during surgery in December of 1999. Told there was little chance for his wife’s survival, her husband Frank prayed to Archbishop Sheen, whom he had long admired.
Mrs. Kearney would survive as surgical staples held despite her infected arterial wall having the consistency of “wet toilet paper,” according to the surgeon.
Mrs. Kearney died this Tuesday in Champaign, The Catholic Post learned Wednesday as it was going to press. Her husband, who first shared Therese’s story with persons promoting Archbishop Sheen’s cause in 2001 and actively cooperated with the fact-gathering, had died earlier this year.
MSGR. RICHARD Soseman, whom Bishop Jenky appointed as delegate to the cause, said Wednesday Mrs. Kearney’s death at age 79 more than six years after the alleged miracle will not impact the case.
“May she rest in peace,” he said.
Archbishop Sheen is a native of El Paso in the Diocese of Peoria who was ordained a diocesan priest and later gained worldwide fame as a radio and television host and author. He died on Dec. 9, 1979, and the Diocese of Peoria officially launched his cause for canonization in September of 2003.
Sunday’s ceremonies were another step toward the Catholic Church officially recognizing the virtues and sanctity of Archbishop Sheen.
Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, who is serving as postulator of the cause in Rome, traveled to Peoria to oversee Sunday’s ceremonies. He will hand-deliver the files to the Congregation of Saints at the Vatican for further study. Also taking part was Father Andrew Apostoli, vice-postulator, and several legal representatives of the Diocese of Peoria including Msgr. Paul Showalter, vicar general, and Msgr. Soseman.
They pledged the accuracy and authenticity of the documentation and interviews of witnesses in the case. Three thick folders were prepared. Two were packaged to be sent to Rome while a third will be retained in the diocesan chancery.
“THE DIOCESE cannot presuppose that anything miraculous happened: that judgement is made in Rome,” said Msgr. Soseman. “When Rome finds that something miraculous has occurred in such cases, it is seen as a sign of God’s favor, working through the prayers of a candidate for sainthood, and so the process is able to move forward.”
Sunday’s ceremony closed months of fact-gathering facilitated by the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation and carried out by a team consisting of Msgr. Soseman; Dr. Clement P. Cunningham of Rock Island, who served as medical expert; Father Edward Roberts, promoter of justice; and Jan Vicary, an ecclesiastical notary. Since last September, testimony had been gathered from four doctors and a nurse, from family members and a priest.
The second alleged miracle, said Msgr. Soseman, involved an infant who became gravely ill shortly after birth in Pittsburgh. The baby’s parents prayed for the intercession of Archbishop Sheen, and the child recovered. More facts about that case were to be released after Thursday’s ceremony.
LIMITED information on the alleged Champaign miracle was released Sunday, and the name of Mrs. Kearney was not made public by the diocese until her death Tuesday.
Mrs. Kearney reportedly had several ailments involving her lungs and was hospitalized in December of 1999. It was determined surgery was necessary to remove an infected area of her lung.
The tear that occurred in the pulmonary artery during surgery caused a considerable amount of blood loss and could have led to a rapid demise. In the hospital’s grief room, Mr. Kearney invoked Archbishop Sheen’s intercession for his wife’s recovery, and shared the prayer with a family priest. Hours later, a doctor arrived saying “Well, that was really something” explaining the successful surgical repair.
Msgr. Soseman said the Sheen Foundation is continuing to collect information and testimony for Archbishop Sheen’s cause. Anyone whose life was influenced by the archbishop or attributes a miraculous event to his intercession is invited to contact The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation, PO Box 728, Peoria, IL 61652, telephone (309) 671-1550.
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