Mass celebrates how Archbishop Sheen ‘knew Christ,’ understood ‘Gospel always sends us outward’

Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria presided over a Mass on Sept. 20 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception to mark the anniversary of the priestly ordination of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. The liturgy took place at the site where the remains of the late archbishop are entombed.

During the Mass, Father Peter James Alindogan, pastor of St. Veronica in Howell, New Jersey, said that Archbishop Sheen knew Jesus Christ and understood that the Gospel requires people to go outward to share God's love. Father Alindogan, who also serves as director of the Diocese of Trenton’s Office of Missions, noted that Sheen was a master communicator who used a blackboard and chalk to explain theology on television.

Father Alindogan was invited to preach by Msgr. Jason A. Gray, the cathedral rector and executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation. The anniversary Mass precedes the scheduled beatification of Archbishop Sheen on Sept. 24.