Archbishop Fulton Sheen's cousin credits him with her life

(OSV News) -- Rosemarie Costello says she is alive today because of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, her cousin. He introduced her parents, after all.

Costello, a 64-year-old musician and teacher in Edmond, Oklahoma, spoke with OSV News about her memories of Archbishop Sheen, whose cause for beatification is moving ahead, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, announced Feb. 9.

Archbishop Sheen (1895-1979) is recognized as one of most influential Catholic communicators of the 20th century. His radio program, "The Catholic Hour," reached an estimated 4 million listeners. He later won an Emmy Award and appeared in Time and Life magazines while running his television show "Life is Worth Living," which reached an estimated 30 million viewers. He wrote more than 60 books and served in several positions, including national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which supported the foreign missions; bishop of Rochester, New York; and titular archbishop of Newport, Wales.

Costello, a wife and a mother of six, celebrated Archbishop Sheen's upcoming beatification and painted a picture of the person her family knew simply as "the bishop." The cousin of her paternal grandmother, he baptized Costello, gave her first Communion and confirmed her. At the invitation of her mother, she became involved in his sainthood cause for two reasons: She loved the bishop, and she wants others to know him, too.

This interview is edited for length and clarity.

OSV News: How did you learn about Archbishop Sheen's beatification? What was your immediate reaction?

Costello: Everything kind of happened all at once. I received this email from Peoria, from the Sheen Foundation, and it was the official press release by Bishop Louis Tylka, who's the head of the cause in Peoria. My good friend Alexis Walkenstein, who's a Sheen warrior through and through, sent me the text, "BEATIFICATION."

We've been praying for it. We've been given word that this looks like this is going to happen -- but until it finally happens, you're still praying and waiting. This is answered prayers because this is a long time coming -- six years waiting for the beatification to be rescheduled. So thanks be to God. Everything seems to be going in the most wonderful direction now, and we couldn't be more grateful.

OSV News: How are you related to Archbishop Sheen? From what I understand, he was your grandmother's cousin.

Costello: Correct. They were cousins. They grew up together in Peoria. My grandmother had two sisters; he had three brothers. They were very close. They had Sunday dinners at their grandmother's every week. Your cousins are your first friends, and they stayed very close their whole lives.

That's how we ended up being so close to him, because my dad … grew up having the bishop come to their home all the time.

My father remained very close to the bishop and ended up going and living with him at his residence in New York. The bishop ended up getting him his first job at Union Carbide, which he had for 35 years. The bishop also introduced him to my mom, Yolanda Tomaiuoli, a little Italian girl who used to go and listen to his talks at St. Aedan's Church in Jersey City when she was in college and would give money to the Propagation of the Faith. He finally pulled her aside one day and asked what her name was and invited her to one of his telecasts and introduced her to my dad. I would not be talking to you if it weren't for Bishop Sheen, because he's the one that introduced my parents all those years ago.

OSV News: Many people know Archbishop Sheen as an influential television evangelist and author. You knew him as family. What was it like growing up with him as a relative?

Costello: We lived in New Jersey first. I was pretty young living there, but we would go in to visit him at the Propagation of the Faith, at his office there in New York. Then we went to Florida, and my grandparents were there. So he would come very frequently to visit and would tie in some type of a talk or retreat. I remember him doing it for a lot of different faiths, not always Catholic groups. That definitely left an impression on me.

It's like any child growing up who really loved their grandparents or their great aunt or great uncle who would come to visit and who would always love on you and want to do fun things with you. But I think the big difference is that even as children (I'm the oldest of six), we all could sense the holiness of this wonderful man. We all called him "the bishop." That's what our grandmother called him, in front of us anyway. You just always felt like you were close to God.

OSV News: Could you tell me a little bit more about his personality?

Costello: He had a great sense of humor. He loved to tell jokes, but he also loved to be around people that were funny. Some of his greatest friends in the celebrity world were comedians. Bob Hope was one of his very dear friends, and his wife, Dolores, was a devout Catholic.

My parents and my grandparents, they all had wonderful senses of humor. I really feel like that was a big reason he loved hanging out with us, because some of our strongest memories are just everyone laughing. That's a wonderful memory to have of your childhood, is laughter filling your house -- especially when this special, wonderful person would come to visit us. … You could tell they had that closeness that you see with people that really, really care about each other but also just the silliness of friends growing up their whole lives.

We have a picture of my grandfather standing in my parents' front hall with the bishop's big mitre on, with a silly look on his face.

OSV News: Growing up, did you ever think Archbishop Sheen might be a saint one day?

Costello: We thought about it a lot, because my mother would always say he's going to be a saint someday. (With) the saints, as children, you're not thinking of somebody that you know, that's in your family. But as I got older, and as I could see more and things made sense to me more, I was like, "Oh yeah, I think he is going to be a saint."

OSV News: What's your earliest memory of Archbishop Sheen?

Costello: My parents had a bunch of pictures of me with the bishop when I was a baby. My mom would say he was reading bedtime stories in Latin and all kinds of things. I do remember being in his office at the Propagation of the Faith and going to visit him, and all the secretaries coming in and making a fuss over us. My mom would bring myself and my sister, Michelle, who's two years younger than me.

OSV News: Do you have a favorite memory of Archbishop Sheen?

Costello: It involves chocolate, because we would take him to the airport when he would visit, or pick him up. He always grabbed my hand and started running. He said, "Hurry up, hurry up, we don't have much time!" And I knew what we were going to do: We were going to go buy an Almond Joy, which was his favorite candy bar. It was my favorite candy bar, and I'm pretty sure it's just because I knew it was his favorite candy bar. But to this day, I do still love Almond Joys.

He'd usually get an extra one and give it to me to take home. But he'd open one, and there were always the two candies in there. So he would hold it out, and I would grab it, and he would take the other. That was a pretty strong memory, because it did happen quite often.

OSV News: I read that he picked out your mother's wedding dress. Is that true?

Costello: He helped. He let my mother know that was the one he liked the best, and that was obviously the one my mom did choose. Of course, my grandfather did pay for it. The bishop, he basically chose their wedding date, because, "This is the day I'm available to marry you at St. Patrick's Cathedral." Of course, that's where they had to get married, and they did at the main altar.

They got engaged in January of 1960, and they were married June 18 of 1960. So they didn't have a lot of time. He said, "Well, you need to get a wedding dress." He just got on the phone and called somebody. And he said, "OK, we have an appointment at 2 o'clock at B. Altman's at the wedding gown floor." B. Altman's was a famous department store in New York City at the time, and so that was that and off they went.

I wore it on my wedding day, which was also June 18, but it was 1983 -- so it was four years after the bishop passed away. I also got married at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and so did my other three sisters.

My oldest daughter wore my mom's gown and neither myself or my daughter had to alter it too much because we were all about the same size as my mom. It was pretty special that we were able to wear that very special, beautiful gown. I still have it. I loaned it to the Sheen Museum in Peoria for about six months a couple years ago, and they had it on display. Maybe I'll have a granddaughter who will wear it someday.

OSV News: Archbishop Sheen's name was "Peter John." How did he come to be known by his mother's maiden name, "Fulton"?

Costello: The story goes that he was raised by his mother's parents -- not that he wasn't raised by his own parents, but he spent a lot of time with them. Everyone started referring to him as "Fulton's boy." Then he just became "Fulton," and it kind of stuck.

OSV News: What is your biggest hope for Archbishop Sheen's beatification?

Costello: I think it'll call attention to him and then the beautiful work that he did his whole life, which really was just to bring people to Christ. I think in beatifying and then hopefully soon after canonizing him will not only make people more aware of who he was, but he will still be bringing more people to Christ through his beatification and canonization.

OSV News: Did he impact your own faith? He gave you the sacraments, but are there other ways that he impacted your faith?

Costello: Growing up, we were very involved with our church. The bishop would come to visit, and he would say Mass, or he would come and talk to the children at the school that we went to. All those little things along the way are little building blocks.

Our faith journey growing up in my immediate family was very strong, but having somebody like that as a role model -- who you know him, but you definitely see how faithful and holy he is -- it did leave a big impression on me. His Holy Hour was one of the most important things that he did his whole life.

When our parish here started having 24-hour adoration -- it was right after my mom died, so it was about 14 years ago -- I signed up. I knew I needed to do it. Of course, I thought of Bishop Sheen. All I thought was, "Well, what would Bishop Sheen think if I had this opportunity, and I didn't at least sign up for one hour a week?"

OSV News: Do you have a favorite quote or saying from Archbishop Sheen?

Costello: One of my favorites that I use a lot is, "Without Good Friday, there is no Easter Sunday." I think it pretty simply and beautifully sums up our faith.

OSV News: If people take away one thing from his life, what do you hope that is?

Costello: He used his God-given gift of speech to bring Christ to everyone. Not just on TV or in his books, but just the way he conducted himself everyday in how he spoke, in how kind and loving he was to everyone he met.

OSV News: Is there anything more you want people to know about Archbishop Sheen?

Costello: He really was a wonderful person, and he really was very holy. There was nothing that was more important to him than our Lord. Of course, he did have a beautiful devotion to our Blessed Mother. Every book he wrote is dedicated to the Blessed Mother. We knew how devoted he was to her, which in turn made us be very devoted to our Blessed Mother.

I have no doubt in my mind that he is with our Lord right now and watching over us. I pray to him a lot for his intercession. I hope that he becomes blessed soon and then goes on to become a saint. Then, I think, more people will learn about him and know just how wonderful he really was.