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Pope Francis has declared that a late US television preacher once performed a miracle, moving him one step closer to sainthood .
The Vatican announced on Saturday the formal approval of the miracle, thought to relate to claims about a baby’s extraordinary recovery in an Illinois hospital.
The Diocese of Peoria believes that Archbishop Fulton J Sheen – who died in 1979 – interceded in 2010 on behalf of a baby who began breathing 61 minutes after showing no signs of life at birth.
One miracle allows a candidate for sainthood to be beatified in the Catholic faith, but a second miracle must be approved in order for sainthood to be conferred.
No date has been given for his beatification ceremony, but the Peoria Diocese said it was beginning preparations for the celebration in the central Illinois city.
Show all 55 1 /55Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis arrives at Phoenix Park for a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home in Tuam. The vigil coincides with the Phoenix park mass which is taking place in Dublin held by Pope Francis. Excavations at the site in 2017 revealed underground structures which held babies bodies with ages ranging from 35 weeks to three years old with most of the dead buried in the 1950s when the facility was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a Catholic religious order of nuns who received unmarried pregnant women to give birth
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Children queue for communion during Pope Francis' closing Mass
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures The Stand4Truth rally gathers outside a former Magdalene laundry in Dublin as part of the demonstrations against clerical sex abuse
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures The names of the victims are read out as a vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A member of the clergy carries a bowl of incense
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Members of the public pray as they watch Pope Francis deliver a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis attends the closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis passes by a banner of a protester as he leaves St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis speaks during his visit to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on Christchurch
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on College Green
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Members of the public wave at Pope Francis as he travels through the city
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis laughs as he leaves St Mary's Pro Cathedral during his visit to Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Two boys wave flags after climbing a post as they wait for Pope Francis
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pairs of baby shoes are hung from black ribbons on Gardiner Street in Dublin in memory of the children who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis memorabilia on sale on O'Connell Street
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis arrives at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral during his visit to Ireland to attend the 2018 World Meeting of Families
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on O'Connell Street
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis addresses the congragation at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Stephen O'Brien selling bottles of holy water from the St Mary's Pro Cathedral
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis prays inside St Mary's Pro Cathedral
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A man waves a rainbow flag behind a model of a pope which stands in the window above a bar
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures People hold a banner against Pope Francis on the way to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Nuns wait by the side of the road for Pope Francis
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A model of a pope is placed in the window above a bar as crowds wait for Pope Francis to travel through the city
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street, Dublin waiting to see Pope Francis as he travels in the Popemobile
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis waves to wellwishers as he arrives at Dublin Airport
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures His visit, the first by a Pope since John Paul II's in 1979 is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis talks to journalists aboard a plane flying from Fiumicino aiport to Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures LGBT protestors from Dublin Pride and We Are Church with flags and umbrellas on Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin to remember the victims of clerical sex abuse ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis disembarks from the aircraft as he arrives at Dublin Airport
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Woman wait for Pope Francis to drive past, in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivers a speech watched by Pope Francis in St. Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Protesters hold banners during a demonstration against clerical sex abuse, in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis plants a tree during a meeting with Irish President Michael D Higgins, at Aras an Uachtarain
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis walks with the President of Ireland Michael Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis, center, is flanked by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, right, as they arrive to meet authorities, in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Protestors wearing baby shoes, to signify the children who died in mother and baby homes in Ireland, protest in Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Franci
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Pope Francis speaks with President Michael D Higgins in his study during a visit to Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park, Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Navy band march prior to the arrival of Pope Francis at the Presidential residence in Dublin
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures Eddie McGuinness from Dublin LGBTQ Pride carries a rainbow flag across Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis
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Pope Francis visits Ireland – in pictures A message left by Pope Francis in the visitors book at Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park
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Archbishop Sheen’s on-air evangelism made him a well-known figure in the US over several decades, having started on NBC radio in 1930 with a weekly programme called The Catholic Hour.
He expanded to television in 1950 with NBC’s Life is Worth Living , regularly amassing more than 30 million viewers.
The pope’s decision comes just weeks after a New York court ruling allowing the American archbishop’s niece to bury him in Peoria, where he was ordained, ending years of litigation and allowing the process for sainthood to resume.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (AP) Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky said he was grateful the Vatican acted quickly after the transfer of the archbishop’s remains, and hopeful Pope Francis will set a date for beatification soon.
“It is truly amazing how God continues to work miracles,” Bishop Jenky said.
The diocese conducted a canonical investigation into the 2010 birth at a Peoria hospital and submitted its findings to the Vatican in 2011.
The Church teaches that only God performs miracles but that saints who are believed to be with God in heaven intercede on behalf of people who pray to them. A miracle is usually the medically inexplicable healing of a person.
Additional reporting by agencies
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