Sheen Experience breaks ground in Peoria, honoring America's media evangelist

PEORIA, Ill. (OSV News) -- As a teenager, Venerable Fulton J. Sheen walked the halls of Spalding Institute, then a Catholic high school, located about two blocks from the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Peoria.

Now, more than a century later, the halls Archbishop Sheen walked as a student will now house the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Experience, dedicated to the candidate for sainthood.

In an Oct. 19 ceremony, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria led local church and civic leaders in breaking the ground outside of the Spalding Institute as a way of launching the project to convert Archbishop Sheen's alma mater into a cultural center blending faith, history and innovation.

"Just imagine, two years from now when this project is completed, we will see many, many visitors -- many more than we currently have -- coming to visit and to experience Fulton Sheen," Bishop Tylka said at the groundbreaking.

Born in 1895 in El Paso, Illinois, Fulton J. Sheen became a priest of the Peoria Diocese in 1919 and later evangelized using radio and television. From 1930 to 1950, then-Father Sheen, and later Msgr. Sheen, hosted the night-time radio program "The Catholic Hour" on NBC. After he was made auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951, he became one of the first televangelists with his Emmy-award-winning show "Life is Worth Living."

In 1966, Bishop Sheen was named to head the Diocese of Rochester, New York. He resigned in 1969. St. Paul VI appointed him archbishop of a titular see, and he focused on his multimedia preaching ministry. He died 10 years later, and his cause for canonization was officially opened in 2002 by the Diocese of Peoria. He had been scheduled to be beatified in December 2019, but the ceremony was indefinitely postponed at the request of some U.S. bishops.

Accommodating pilgrims

Archbishop Sheen's tomb in the nearby cathedral and the Sheen museum at the Peoria Diocese's pastoral center in the Spalding building together draw approximately 4,000 pilgrims each year, said Msgr. Jason Gray, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, which is responsible for promoting the cause for canonization.

"For someone who hasn't been beatified yet, that's actually impressive that so many people go out of their way," Msgr. Gray told OSV News. "We can continually see increasing numbers, and not only the people who physically come, but also people who make contact with the foundation."

In his opening remarks, Bishop Tylka recalled returning from a diocesan pilgrimage to Italy and visiting the tombs of Sts. Francis, Clare, Peter and Paul, among others.

"I kept thinking of the people who come to visit the tomb of one day St. Fulton Sheen," he said.

The idea behind the Sheen Experience is to provide pilgrims more than simply a traditional museum but rather a way to encounter the sainthood candidate -- and by extension, the Lord Jesus Christ -- through modern technology.

"What we recognize is there are incredible tools now that we have -- augmented reality, virtual reality, immersive technologies -- that are really, really incredible tools and assets," Dan Onderko, the diocese's director of development and stewardship, told OSV News.

By utilizing the technology of his day such as radio and television, Archbishop Sheen met people where they were.

"Sheen used technology in a way that was really cutting edge when he was on the radio and then on television," Msgr. Gray said in a press conference Oct. 19. "If he were here today, he'd be using all the modern technology that we have available, and that's something that we want to integrate into the building, so definitely more than just an ordinary museum."

Plans include a library to research Archbishop Sheen, a studio, and interactive ways to encounter his wit and wisdom.

"We want to be able to be a place where people could actually come and be able to say, 'Well, if he did it using radio and TV, we can do it using podcasts and other types of media that's out there today,' and prepare for whatever the media is to come," Bishop Tylka told reporters.
Most importantly, the experience is meant to provide a place of prayer for people to encounter Christ.

"We've got his kneeler. Why not invite somebody, who's walking through this experience getting so much, to give them a place where they can get a little bit of an oasis to just sit and pray for a few minutes and then actually be praying with the items that Sheen prayed with," Bishop Tylka said.

A Sheen relic

Initially, the plan had been to build a new building -- but eventually, the idea was put forth to use the old Spaulding Institute considering its historical connection not only to Archbishop Sheen but to the Diocese of Peoria.

"Bishop (Tylka) went through the process of looking at the structural stability of the building, the feasibility of it as a space to create a modern and immersive museum and spoke to the community about what they thought," Onderko said. "Over time and adding in the fact that Archbishop Fulton Sheen went to school there and walked those halls -- it's a beautiful historic building -- it became clear that that was the right direction to go."

Architect Rich Conneen came to a realization one day while walking down the stairs of the Spalding Institute. As he pivoted his foot to go up a second flight of stairs, he realized that Archbishop Sheen, as a boy, had done the same action in the same spot. He described the building as a true relic.

"Much like a Bible that he would read every day, this was his formation. He was intellectually formed here -- spiritually formed 700 feet away in the cathedral -- and you're literally touching and walking where Sheen went in this new experience," he told OSV News. "It's going to bring this layer of gravitas to the project that wouldn't exist in a new building."

The exterior of the building will remain the same while the interior will have to be upgraded and redesigned. While the Spalding Institute has "good bones," it still needs to be "gutted," Conneen said. The cost of bringing the building up to code by installing a new HVAC system or removing asbestos is expected to cost $9 million to $11 million.

An additional $1 million to $2 million is also expected to be needed for incorporating certain elements of the Sheen Experience. Currently, the diocese is in the midst of a $25 million capital campaign to support not only the renovations, but also to create an endowment for long-term operations.

"We're wanting to establish an endowment for the foundation to help with the ongoing maintenance costs of the building and for the operations of the foundation to expand our staffing, to have people to work in these areas," Onderko said. "In most organizations, the most valuable asset is your people."

Archbishop Sheen's intercession

Jorge and Sara Aguilar, who run the San Antonio-based Fulton Sheen Apostolate almost didn't make it to the groundbreaking. The foundation invited them but after missing their first flight from San Antonio, a comedy of errors ensued. Eventually landing at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in Texas, their flight to Peoria was canceled. The couple was on standby for a flight to nearby Bloomington, Indiana.

"Lord, if you want me to go, let me go," Jorge prayed before finally boarding the plane to Bloomington. He told OSV News he believed that Archbishop Sheen interceded on their behalf. The experience helped him to trust in the providence of God.

"If he sends you somewhere, he'll get you there -- maybe by way of whale, but you'll have a whale of a time," he told OSV News, making a reference to the biblical story of Jonah. "But when he gets you there it'll be for his divine will to happen. He reminds me daily to surrender my will to his divine will."

Their apostolate has created several curricula based on Archbishop Sheen's recordings, and they share it with parishes and prisons, alike.

"Sheen gives us a venue to know our faith deeper and more complete, and it's that realization is that we don't get to heaven because we signed up and got a certificate; heaven comes to earth when we avail ourselves when we do what Mary says, 'Let it be done to me according to thy word,'" Jorge Aguilar said.

Sara Aguilar said she felt the devil had tried to dissuade them from attending the Sheen Experience groundbreaking -- which is how Aguilar knew she would grow spiritually from the event.

"The most important thing was being able to visit Bishop Sheen's tomb," she said. "I've been wanting to go just to be there and pray for intercession."

Peoria native Dennis Goett is family friends with the Engstrom family, the family that experienced the miracle through Archbishop Sheen's intercession that was recognized by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and approved by the late Pope Francis. James Fulton Engstrom had been born without a pulse when his parents prayed for Archbishop Sheen's intercession. It restarted 61 minutes later.

"Then the heartbeat started, and ... he's 15 years old and he likes to ride his bicycle and he likes 'Star Wars,'" Goett said.

As a young priest, Archbishop Sheen served at St. Patrick Parish in Peoria. Goett's wife Pam told OSV News she remembers being a student at St. Patrick School -- several decades later -- and the saintly bishop coming back to visit and celebrate the school Mass. The Goetts volunteer twice a month at Archbishop Sheen's tomb.

"We can't wait for the beatification," Pam Goett said. "It's an amazing experience visiting with people who come from all over the world that want to see him."