Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Sheen to be ‘a moment of immense grace’: Peoria bishop
VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen will be beatified on Sept. 24 in St. Louis, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints announced March 25.
The beatification will take place in St. Louis, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelization, presiding.
On Feb. 9, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, had announced that the Vatican had given the green light for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen to move forward six years after the Holy See had postponed the beatification, initially scheduled for December 2019, only weeks before the event was to take place.
In a statement March 25, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria said the beatification will take place at 2 p.m. CT at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis.
“With anticipation of a great number of people wanting to participate, we chose this location because of availability, being indoors, and the close proximity to the Diocese of Peoria,” Bishop Tylka said.
Bishop Tylka added that a “number of events in Peoria” will be held “to celebrate this wonderful occasion.”
“This is a moment of immense grace for the Church — especially for us in the Diocese of Peoria, where Archbishop Sheen was born, ordained, and first served as a priest,” he added. “His life and ministry continue to inspire countless people to know and love Jesus Christ more deeply.”
“The Beatification Mass will be a profound moment of prayer and celebration for the faithful near and far,” Bishop Tylka said. “I invite all who have been touched by Archbishop Sheen’s life and legacy to join us in spirit or in person for this historic event.”
Msgr. Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, received the news of the beatification date with “indescribable joy” and said he was “thrilled” Cardinal Tagle has been chosen “to be the papal legate, celebrant and preacher of the beatification Mass.”
Archbishop Sheen — who himself was national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (1950-66) — “is an inspiration not only to all of us who continue his work of prayer and support for the Church’s missionary work across the globe but for all those whose faith has been strengthened by his preaching, broadcasting, writing, and holy Catholic life,” Msgr. Landry said in a March 25 statement to OSV News.
“Cardinal Tagle, like Sheen,” he added, is “an incredibly gifted preacher, but he will no doubt be able to emphasize the contributions that soon to be Blessed Fulton Sheen made and in many ways continues to make to the Church’s mission work.”
In February, when it was announced Archbishop Sheen’s beatification would go forward, Bishop Tylka called the prelate “one of the greatest voices of evangelization in the Church and the world in the 20th century.”
‘A line that should never be crossed’: MAiD for mental illness draws most pushback among controversial bills
As a series of controversial federal bills moves forward — from online regulation to hate speech law — so too are efforts to push back against them. But it is one measure in particular, the planned expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to include mental illness, where opposition has become increasingly organized.
Cloverdale—Langley City MP Tamara Jansen is leading the effort with Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, which would prohibit MAiD where mental illness is the sole underlying condition.
With the federal expansion scheduled for March 17, 2027, Jansen warns that Canada is approaching “a line that should never be crossed” and is urging Parliament to act before the change takes effect.
Academics are set to begin testifying Tuesday before the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, the parliamentary body reviewing Canada’s planned expansion of MAiD to individuals with mental illness.
Across the country, church leaders, advocacy groups, and medical professionals are reinforcing that push. The Archdiocese of Toronto’s Help Not Harm campaign is encouraging Catholics to contact their MPs in support of Bill C-218. Neil MacCarthy, the Archdiocese’s director of public relations and communications, appreciates how Canadian dioceses are amplifying this endeavour by prominently displaying the campaign on their websites.
“We welcome the visible solidarity shown by dioceses across Canada in support of the Help Not Harm campaign,” wrote MacCarthy. “This shared witness reflects a common concern for the dignity of every person, especially those who are most vulnerable.”
Nicole Scheidl, executive director of Canadian Physicians for Life, said the proposed expansion raises fundamental concerns about assessing mental illness.
“Most psychiatrists across the country are very much against this because someone who has a mental illness and has suicidality in their mental illness, how do you tease apart what’s part of the illness and what is a rational decision? It’s impossible,” she said.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said the timing is critical as the scheduled expansion draws near, noting that Bill C-218 will be coming to a vote fairly soon and that “there are many members of the government in the Toronto region.”
Meanwhile, Alberta recently introduced legislation that would bar such cases provincially and strengthen protections for health-care providers who refuse to participate. Bill 18, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act, introduced March 18, would prohibit assisted suicide for individuals with a mental illness as their sole underlying condition, bar minors and those without decision-making capacity, and prevent advance requests.
From cat videos to media giant: YouTube’s unstoppable rise
Juggernaut, behemoth, cable TV killer: all terms we could ascribe to one of the mainstays of the modern internet, YouTube.
As a term it acts both as a proper noun — describing a commercial entity — and as a verb — as in “YouTube this, YouTube that.”
Some may remember that in its very early days, after Google acquired the video startup, YouTube had a very odd-looking URL or domain, youtu.be, taking advantage of the internet country code for Belgium.
YouTube as a media property in 2026 is indeed a juggernaut. For many it is the sole video platform with which they engage, be it through a mobile device, a laptop, or a smart TV.
By some measures YouTube is the world’s largest media company, albeit as a subsidiary of Alphabet, the umbrella company that incorporates Google and a host of other business entities.
YouTube went live in April 2005 with a video entitled “Me at the zoo.” About a year and a half later Google acquired the service for the then-unheard-of, and widely panned, price of $1.65 billion. Money wasted on cat videos, said some pundits at the time.
According to data compiled by American business analytics firm MoffettNathanson Research, YouTube took in just over US$62 billion in revenue in 2025. That’s more than a billion dollars a week and more than Disney’s media empire earned, although only by about a billion or so dollars.
To throw a little Canadian spin on those numbers, that billion a week stacks up mightily against the total debt of one-time Canadian media giant Corus Entertainment, which has about CDN$1.5 billion in liabilities.
YouTube is a complex entity, no longer just a repository for cat videos and the like. Canada is insulated from its actual complexity in that we don’t have access to YouTube TV, its subscription service that provides television channels much like a typical cable TV plan. In addition there are sports packages under the NFL Sunday Ticket label.
Canadians do have access to YouTube Premium ($14/month for an individual, $23/month for up to six family members), essentially a way to bypass advertising breaks in videos. For some this has become their TV subscription in essence, eating away at the cable TV subscription model along with other streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. There is evidence that fewer than 60 per cent of Canadian households still maintain a cable service.
YouTube Premium also offers a yearly rate of $140 (basically two months free) and a student plan ($8/month). There is also a “limited” individual plan, called Premium Lite, at $8/month with what is described as “limited ad-free viewing, background playing, and downloads.”
Carrying the cross: what a Jubilee pilgrimage taught me about suffering in Lent
Several months have passed since my pilgrimage to Rome during the Church’s Jubilee of Hope, yet the graces of that week continue to unfold now during this season of Lent.
As I move through daily life and prepare for marriage this summer, I often return to what God revealed during those days of pilgrimage. I see more clearly that what happened in Rome was not only a journey to a holy place, but the beginning of a deeper interior pilgrimage with God that continues to shape how I live and serve today.
When I left Canada last summer, I carried with me questions of discernment, along with the many prayers entrusted to me by others: people who had formed my faith, friends, and parishioners who asked me to remember their intentions. It felt as though I carried a piece of home with me on the pilgrimage, along with my own quiet anxieties about the road ahead and God’s will for my life.
The journey to Rome was not easy. Delays, disruptions, a sudden medical emergency during a layover, and little sleep made the trip physically exhausting before the pilgrimage had even begun. Each step, from the hospital and airport terminals to the cobblestone streets of Rome, became an act of surrender.
I did not arrive rested; I arrived offered.
During the week of the Jubilee of Youth, I was grateful to serve as a volunteer in the accommodation centre for more than 30,000 pilgrims. Our team welcomed pilgrims who had travelled from across the world seeking the grace of the Jubilee.
The work was demanding: early mornings, long hours on our feet, and constant movement across the vast halls in the Roman summer heat. With the long hours came unexpected physical challenges: mosquito bites from my thighs to my toes, blisters on both feet, and eventually a severe ankle sprain that required a cast.
Even simple walking became difficult. Yet it was precisely there that I encountered Christ most clearly.
From being alone in the emergency room during my layover in Toronto to visiting the mobile clinic in Rome, the difficulties of the pilgrimage became moments of deeper trust in God and humble obedience. Despite the pain, I remained present, serving, praying, and carrying the intentions of others with me.
Every swollen foot, every irritated bite, and every slow step across the cobblestones became a small share in Christ’s cross.
It was there that I learned something simple but lasting: hope is not polished; it is persevering.
Christ was present in every difficult step, every restless night, and every moment when I wanted to stop but chose to continue.
Dark films in dark times
It can be a challenge to decide what to watch on streaming services. With that in mind, I consulted several friends for recommendations. The result was decidedly dark.
Secret Agent was a 2025 winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Set in 1977 Brazil, before the revolution, it tells the story of Clovis (award-winning actor Robson Andrade), a widower hoping to reunite with his young son. He soon discovers that life is difficult and dangerous in a country rife with petty crime, bribery, and murder. He becomes caught up in this world and eventually a target for a crime boss.
The narrative is intriguing and often suspenseful, but too often I found scenes difficult to place, as action unfolds without sufficient introduction. At times the result is confusing, even if clarified later. Despite this, director Kleber Mendoza carries the viewer along in a complex narrative crowded with a wide range of characters.
Filmed in Spanish, requiring subtitles, Secret Agent is nonetheless a powerful portrait of a corrupt society, with an engaging hero and a complex but dark storyline.
Even darker is Civil War, a film clearly aimed at the current political situation in the United States. Many will object to its portrayal of a president who has assumed autocratic powers as too politically biased. Others, however, may find themselves drawn into a narrative focusing on war correspondents attempting to cross several states to report on events in Washington. Along the way, they witness savagery that many will find stark and disturbing. It is an ugly account of an uglier situation.
Clearly intended as a cautionary tale for American audiences, Civil War can be accused of adding gloom and doom to what many already see as a critical moment.
The fact that the film, written and directed by Alex Garland, is exceptionally well made and acted may itself frustrate some viewers, depending on their political outlook. Others may simply find it too horrific.
And that brings me back to the concern that so many films are dark. Looking at this year’s Oscar nominations, one may wonder what has happened to escapist comedy and romance. Is this merely coincidence, or a reflection of the spirit of the times in which we live?
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Catholic athletes who witnessed at the Olympics
We just closed the books on another Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina, Italy. Amid the hype and some controversy, some athletes cemented their names in history while others jump-started their careers. Events of this magnitude offer a chance at glory and a moment on the world stage — but also a platform for witness. Some athletes did just that. Here are some Catholic Olympians from past and present.
Britta Curl-Salemme, who played on the U.S. women’s hockey team that broke Canada’s hearts, winning gold in overtime, says she draws strength from her Catholic faith. Hockey is her “path to becoming a saint,” she said, because in a team sport “you sometimes have to die to yourself and put the team first,” she told The Catholic Spirit. St. Therese of Lisieux helped reignite her faith in college.
Jadin O’Brien competed in bobsled for the U.S. and has overcome a serious health issue. “I use my platform to glorify God,” she said. At every event she blesses the race location with holy water. “At competitions I just dive into my faith; I stop thinking and just do.”
Kacpar Tomasiak, a Polish ski jumper, drew attention after placing his silver and bronze medals on the altar of a church in Predazzo, Italy. He became the first Polish jumper to medal three times in one Olympics. Instead of celebrating, he asked for a Mass of thanksgiving, Father Edward Plen said. “His humility is striking, especially given the scale of his achievements,” he told the Catholic Register. He crosses himself before every jump and serves as an altar server in his parish. “You do not need to loudly proclaim your faith; people who look at your life will begin asking about Jesus and that is the greatest victory,” Father Plen said.
Maxim Naumov lost both parents in a 2025 plane crash over Washington, D.C., but his faith helped him return to competition and qualify for this year’s Olympics. He spoke of skating with love in his heart and Mary by his side. His second piece was set to Ave Maria. He crosses himself before every routine and wears his cross. After his final routine, holding a picture of his parents, he said, “I love you. We did it. God is good,” according to Aleteia.
Yuna Kim, Olympic gold and silver medalist from South Korea, converted to Catholicism in 2008 after a knee injury and care from Catholic doctors. “I had a providential encounter with these Catholic doctors who would quote from the New Testament to keep my morale high,” she said, according to Catholic Review. She also met met a priest in the hospital who gave her private lessons in understanding more about the Bible and Church teachings.
Letters: supporting children and parents
Wherever I go—whether at the pool, in a store, or on the bus—I see happy parents and people smiling at babies in strollers. I know several very joyful families with five or more children.
Yes, countries such as China and Japan are increasingly concerned about declining birth rates and the challenges of supporting rapidly aging populations. But closer to home, if a Walmart employee seemed less than enthusiastic about your three children, it may simply be that she wishes she could be home with a child of her own. Working in retail is certainly less appealing than spending time with one’s children, and many women work long hours just to make ends meet. We should be grateful for our families; countless women long deeply for even one child and never receive that gift. That sorrow runs far deeper than not being congratulated by a stranger.
Especially within the Catholic Church, children are cherished. We appreciate them—and the parents who bring them to church. Personally, I would focus on rejoicing in my children rather than trying to change how others react. Misunderstandings happen. Sometimes the best response is simply to smile and say, “My children are my greatest joy and gift in life.”
Marianne Werner
Vancouver
Thank you to Father James Hughes, the Mom & Tots group, the Bereavement Ministry, and the CWL at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish for hosting their second annual Mass for Infant Loss.
In his homily, Father Hughes spoke about the importance of a strong faith community to support bereaved families and the healing that can take place when families who have experienced infant loss journey through grief together.
For the past eight years, a Mass for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day has also been celebrated at Gardens of Gethsemani Catholic Cemetery in October in partnership with Elizabeth Ministry. It was wonderful to have Archbishop Richard Smith attend last year’s, along with more than 150 people.
I am grateful to all the Elizabeth Ministers and supporters who have offered their time, talent, and treasure to care for and serve families seeking hope and healing after the loss of their babies and young children.
Donna L. Crombie
Elizabeth Ministry BC Coordinator
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Thirst for more than retirement
“I thirst.” Mother Teresa loved this phrase of Jesus from the cross so much that she had it inscribed in prominent places in her convent chapels.
This saying of Jesus — one of seven that he spoke from the cross despite his great suffering — has profound implications for the Church militant here on earth. For us, it’s go time. For those who love, when we hear Jesus say “I thirst,” we hear him say, “Bring me as many precious souls as possible. I yearn to be loved by the souls I have died to save!”
We in the West love to daydream about our retirement. We pine for it. We thirst for it. In affluent nations like ours, we believe that at a certain point we have “earned” a rest. But can one take a vacation from loving? Can we retire from serving Jesus with our lives?
We would do well as Christians to meditate often on the shortness of our lives here on earth. Like the Psalmist, we need to beseech the Lord for wisdom: “So teach us to number our days that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Ps 90) And how few days we have to quench the thirst of Jesus! Tomorrow makes one less day.
It is so easy to become dizzy with indecision over how to serve Jesus. There are so many around us who do not believe. What do we do with our own families who have rejected the faith? Where do we start?
The starting point is very simple. We must attend to the thirsting Jesus in front of us.
As a parent, there is no shortage of opportunities to satisfy the thirst of a child — thirst for water, yes, but also thirst for attention, thirst for playtime, thirst for comfort. There is no shortage of people out there who thirst for a listening ear. There is no shortage of people who are difficult to love or who need help with daily living.
When we give to all of these little ones, we mystically and actually satisfy the thirst of Jesus. In attending to these little needy ones, we simultaneously attend to Jesus and also welcome little ones into the caring arms of Jesus, which look a lot like our arms, come to think of it.
Jesus yearned for consolation from the cross — consolation for all of the blasphemies and indifference that would follow even after his offering of his life for us. Will we ignore his cries from the cross and seek our own comfort and rest as our ultimate goal?
It is justice that we seek to open the eyes of those around us.
The Annunciation: a yes that changed the world
If an angel appeared to you and announced news that caught you off guard, how would you react? I wonder how I would respond.
The feast of the Annunciation is on March 25, nine months before Christmas, when the Church celebrates Mary’s vocation and the Incarnation. When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was surprised and full of wonder. Mary did not need time to prepare her body, mind, and heart for receiving the Holy Spirit. Her whole life was spent in union with God, as she herself was born without original sin. She was ready. It was her faithful response to the angel’s message, her fiat, that began the work of redemption.
Dominican spiritual writer Father Luis de Granada said, “When God decided to create the first man, he first took care to create a fitting environment for him, which was the Garden of Eden. It makes sense, then, that when God made ready to send his Son, the Christ, he likewise prepared for him a worthy environment, namely, the body and soul of the Blessed Virgin.”
When my husband and I found out that I was pregnant, we were overjoyed. I can only imagine how Mary might have felt at the news that she would be carrying a child — especially since it wasn’t just any child, but the Son of God.
There was a mixture of feelings for me: fear, joy, and excitement as I began a new life. Becoming a family of three was a change that made me realize how important it was to prepare my body, mind, and heart for motherhood. Mary must have felt fearful because she was unwed, betrothed, and pregnant. At the same time, she must have felt joy to be chosen as the Mother of God.
It was with patience and prayer that I could trust in God’s plans for our family. Mary’s “yes” to God was a beacon of faith to me. In my pregnancy, I started to pray for my unborn child to be healthy and happy. I began to take more care of my physical, mental, and spiritual health as my unborn child needed the best environment to develop and grow.
I remember thinking that so many women have gone through this same journey. This thought made me feel connected to the whole of humanity, which made me excited to be a co-creator with the Master Creator.
“Without Christ, life has no meaning… it is only through Christ that we will come to comprehend our inner self and everything that matters most to us: the hidden value of pain and of work well-done, the authentic peace and joy which surpass natural feelings and life’s uncertainties, the delightful prospect of our supernatural reward in our eternal homeland.”
Letters: a call to stand on guard, and repent, for Canada
Perhaps today, more than even a month ago, we can see the reason for a call to go to our knees in prayer to repent on behalf of Canada, and to call out to the Lord to have mercy on our nation.
Initially, the impetus for this came from reflecting on the darkness of the rampant “culture of death” that has spread its tentacles across our nation—through unbridled, unrestricted abortion and physician-assisted suicide, and the coercive tactics used to pressure individuals to choose MAiD as a solution not only to health challenges but to an array of social challenges, from poverty to lack of appropriate housing and other issues that can be resolved if the choice is there for service agencies to advocate and come alongside those facing such situations to resolve them.
Now, with the loss of life at Tumbler Ridge, BC, we have added to the mix situations where individuals, feeling such a degree of isolation and alienation, turn on their own family and community, and on themselves, becoming agents of death in such a horrific, tragic fashion.
Scripture says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Ps. 33:12)
As a nation, Canada has turned away from the holiness of God, adopting and embracing attitudes and practices that grieve the heart of God. We as believers must be the ones to go to our knees and call out to God for forgiveness on behalf of this nation that we are citizens of, and to beg His mercy so that His favour might be restored to Canada and to us, so that we might all live “…peaceable lives” (1 Tim. 2:2) as citizens of this nation.
We began our call for 40 days of prayer and penance starting on Ash Wednesday to coincide with the season of Lent, based on Joel 2:12–13a, 14a:
Yet, even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
And return to the Lord, your God.
…
Perhaps He will again relent,
And leave behind Him a blessing.
Therefore let us pray:
Lord God, You who are merciful and just,
who have created us in your image and likeness,
and called us to live in holiness and righteousness,
we have sinned against you, as a Nation,
in acceding to the death-dealing of abortion
and euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide,
blatantly transgressing your Law
that we are not to commit murder.
Forgive us, Lord, and remove the stain
of the sin of shedding innocent blood
that has polluted the land
and seeded darkness and death into our cultural fabric.
Forgive us for the hardness of our hearts,
for harbouring antagonism, hostility, hatred and blame
towards those whose views differ from ours.