By OSV News
NEW YORK (OSV News) — When Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is beatified Sept. 24 in St. Louis, attention will rightly fall on the celebrated television preacher whose broadcasts brought Catholic teaching into millions of American homes. But for almost two decades, behind Archbishop Sheen’s extraordinary reach stood a largely unknown group of women who opened thousands of letters, recorded donations, thanked contributors and helped transform his words into material support for missionaries and young churches around the world.
Archbishop Sheen served from 1950 to 1966 as the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies. The society coordinates World Mission Sunday, the annual worldwide day of giving that supports the Church’s work in more than 1,100 mission territories. During those years, the office began producing donor acknowledgments in-house, an operation substantial enough to resemble a small print shop. A sign at its entrance captured the staff’s spirit: “The impossible, we do immediately. Miracles might take a little longer.”
Dozens of women helped sustain the Society for the Propagation of the Faith during Archbishop Sheen’s 16 years as national director. Some of the women married and raised families. Others entered religious life. Most are no longer living, and their contributions were often known only to their colleagues and families.
The Mass for the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT Sept. 24 at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation’s website at https://www.celebratesheen.com/.