The Diocese of Peoria opened Fulton Sheen's cause for canonization in 2002, and Pope Benedict XVI declared him Venerable, recognizing heroic virtue, on June 28, 2012. A miracle attributed to his intercession, the unexplained recovery in 2010 of a stillborn infant, James Fulton Engstrom, who was without a pulse for 61 minutes before reviving, was formally approved on July 5, 2019.
Beatification, the next formal step toward sainthood, was originally scheduled for December 21, 2019, in Peoria, but was postponed at the Vatican's direction amid a jurisdictional dispute between the Diocese of Peoria, which had advanced the cause, and the Archdiocese of New York, where Sheen had served and where his remains were then held. The dispute centered on which diocese held authority over the cause and over Sheen's remains, a question with no doctrinal content but real procedural weight in canon law. It has since been resolved, and Sheen's beatification is now scheduled for September 24, 2026, in St. Louis, presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
Canonization itself, the final step, has not been scheduled and requires the Vatican's approval of a second miracle attributed to Sheen's intercession beyond the one already confirmed. His case remains one of the most closely watched active causes among twentieth century American Catholics, made unusual by the sheer size of the broadcast audience whose devotion first brought his name to Rome's attention.