New York – “The Pontifical Mission Societies USA is inviting Catholics across the country to participate in the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen through the World Mission Rosary.” The appeal is contained in a statement released by the US Pontifical Mission Societies on the occasion of the beatification of the man who was also the fifth director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States from 1950 to 1966. The liturgy for the beatification will be celebrated on September 24 in St. Louis, Missouri.
“At the suggestion of women religious serving on the beatification planning committee, we turned to religious communities throughout the country in the hope that they might help make at least 75,000 rosaries,” said Monsignor Roger J. Landry, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of the USA. “After God himself, women religious united are the most powerful force in the Church,” continued Monsignor Landry, who has already visited some of the religious communities involved, such as the Poor Clares in Kokomo, Indiana. “The sisters began making the rosaries on May 13, 2026,” said the ninth National Director of the PMS in the United States, and “only later did they discover that May 13, 1977, was the exact day Archbishop Sheen visited their monastery, celebrated Mass, made his holy hour, and gave them a conference. Such providential connections seem to accompany this effort,” Landry added.
The initiative to make missionary rosaries and distribute them to pilgrims attending the beatification ceremony, which will be presided over by Cardinal Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization , has been welcomed with great enthusiasm by many members of the American Catholic community. “What began as a simple but powerful devotion in the United States spread throughout the world,” Monsignor Landry said. “Today, in many mission countries, children learn to pray the World Mission Rosary from a young age and wear it joyfully as a sign of their faith.”
Each of its five decades of the World Mission Rosary represents a different region of the world: green for Africa, blue for Oceania, white for Europe, red for the Americas, and yellow for Asia, visibly expressing the unity of the Church in mission.
The current National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies explains that by making a World Mission Rosary, everyone, especially those who venerate Archbishop Sheen, will be able to participate in this historic celebration, even if they do not travel to St. Louis. “Our hope is not only to place a rosary in the hands of each pilgrim attending Archbishop Sheen’s beatification, but to inspire a renewed commitment to pray for the missions and to live the call to bring the Gospel to all nations,” Monsignor Landry explained, who also participated in the recent PMS General Assembly held in Rome from May 27 to June 3.
On September 24, the day will begin with an introductory event in preparation for the beatification.
Writer and radio host Katie Preajan Macgrady, will co-host the morning event with Monsignor Roger Landry. Numerous speakers and musicians will help prepare those present for the beatification Mass.
Archbishop Sheen is considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century American Catholicism. Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, officially recognized the heroic virtues of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, thus declaring him a “Venerable Servant of God.” On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis recognized the miracle attributed to his intercession. During his time as National Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies, he instituted the World Mission Rosary in 1951, which today remains central to the efforts of the Church community and the Pontifical Mission Societies in the path to his beatification.
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