Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the country’s most visible Roman Catholic clergyman of the 20th century, is one step closer to sainthood after a ceremony in St. Louis. Beatification typically requires evidence of a miracle resulting from prayer to the person in question. In Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s case, the parents of a stillborn boy in the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., in 2010 prayed to him to intervene.

As America’s most visible Roman Catholic clergyman of the 20th century, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen had a television audience that rivaled Milton Berle and “I Love Lucy.” He was said to be responsible for 42,000 conversions over his long career. On Thursday afternoon, even more Catholics streamed into a stadium in St. Louis to see Archbishop Sheen, who died in 1979, move one step closer to sainthood.

Before presiding over Mass, Cardinal Luis Tagle read a letter from Pope Leo XIV formally declaring Archbishop Sheen “blessed,” making him the first American-born bishop to receive the honor. The Mass included some 1,000 priests and 90 bishops from around the country. The celebration was held in St. Louis because Archbishop Sheen’s home diocese of Peoria, Ill., did not have a venue large enough for it.

The boy, James Fulton Engstrom, turned 16 this month. He participated in Thursday’s ceremony by accompanying a gold receptacle down the center aisle that held a relic associated with Archbishop Sheen, his jawbone. “In a time of a lot of change, he told it like it is,” said Thomas Bagley, 30, who traveled from Kansas City, Kan., for the event.