Yet again, Archdiocese of NY appeals on Sheen case

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After losing at all three levels of the New York courts, the Archdiocese is appealing yet again to keep Venerable Sheen’s remains in St. Patrick’s.

Legal experts had said that there would be little hope of success for the Archdiocese with a further appeal, and all it would do is stall and delay the inevitable.

With all due respect to the Archdiocese, this is getting really embarrassing. They need to know when to just let it go.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-u...court-to-bar-move-of-sheen-remains-to-peoria/
 
This is pretty much the definition of the following:
1 Cor. 6:5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
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Yes, this definitely came to mine as well. It gets more and more embarrassing with each appeal.
 
Dolan is a bad loser, I reckon.
Eventually they will run out of stuff to appeal and then it’s off to Peoria for the Bishop. I think he’d get a good chuckle out of all this fuss while simultaneously bemoaning the waste of time and cash.
 
I don’t know if it’s Dolan being bad loser, or wanting to respect the wishes of Bishop Sheen.

It’s not like he wouldn’t be declared a saint of the Universal Church, and just Peoria. Let him rest where he’s been for forty odd years.
 
There is no access for pilgrims to where he is right now. There is no special attention being paid to him. This is in direct contrast to other people on the path to sainthood who more or less have their own dedicated shrines.

I doubt very much that Archbishop Sheen would have wanted the NY Archdiocese, which treated him shabbily during his life though he was kind and never criticized (as befitting a saint), to spend all kinds of money on lawyers over his burial plans. This isn’t a situation like Cardinal Newman where the person’s heartfelt, dearest wish was to be buried in a particular place among loved ones. In any event if he stays in NY he’s not going to be interred in the cemetery where he wanted to be.

Anyway, they are just going to keep losing until this is over. I don’t think Peoria is going to give in at this point. Venerable Archbishop Sheen, please pray for a swift ending to all this.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
There is no access for pilgrims to where he is right now. There is no special attention being paid to him. This is in direct contrast to other people on the path to sainthood who more or less have their own dedicated shrines.

I doubt very much that Archbishop Sheen would have wanted the NY Archdiocese, which treated him shabbily during his life though he was kind and never criticized (as befitting a saint), to spend all kinds of money on lawyers over his burial plans. This isn’t a situation like Cardinal Newman where the person’s heartfelt, dearest wish was to be buried in a particular place among loved ones. In any event if he stays in NY he’s not going to be interred in the cemetery where he wanted to be.

Anyway, they are just going to keep losing until this is over. I don’t think Peoria is going to give in at this point. Venerable Archbishop Sheen, please pray for a swift ending to all this.
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Yes, these are major points. Archbishop Sheen is currently in a crypt with no public access, while Peoria is preparing to give him a prominent place in their cathedral where he can be easily accessed by the faithful. As I’ve said many times on here, it’s only fitting since Peoria pursued the canonization (and invested the time, money, and resources). And Cardinal Egan purportedly promised Peoria his remains of the cause moved forward.

The only thing that worries me is that (unless I’m mistaken) it’s not actually the Peoria diocese suing New York to have the body moved, it’s Sheen’s closest living relative, who is in her 90s. What happens if she passes away while New York is stalling? EDIT: Never mind, I looked it up. It is the diocese of Peoria that sued, citing the support of Sheen’s closest living relative.

I may be cynical, but I doubt that the Archdiocese cares one bit about whether Sheen is truly “resting in peace.” I’d imagine that they have other motivations. But the fact is, New York lost, and there won’t be any resting in peace until they give it up.
 
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F_Marturana said:
I don’t know if it’s Dolan being bad loser, or wanting to respect the wishes of Bishop Sheen.

It’s not like he wouldn’t be declared a saint of the Universal Church, and just Peoria. Let him rest where he’s been for forty odd years.
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As @Tis_Bearself said, even if New York were to win, he is not even buried where he originally wished to be buried. His family had him put in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but his original desire was to be buried in Calvary Cemetary in New York.

Also, he is buried in a crypt with no access from the faithful. A saint’s relics should be prominently placed for pilgrims. The people should have access to him. Peoria spent the time, money, and resources to advance Sheen’s cause and now New York is trying to reap the fruits of it.
 
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CTBcin said:
With all due respect to the Archdiocese, this is getting really embarrassing.
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“Embarrassing” is the word I keep using to describe this whole debacle. The money spent taking each other to court could definitely be better spent on other things. I am truly baffled as to why they keep dragging this out. New York keeps saying that it’s to respect Sheen’s wishes, but Sheen’s wishes were to be buried elsewhere in New York, not in the cathedral.
 
Exactly. After the first court battle, New York should’ve just called it a day. But now, after losing three times, they’re trying for the fourth time, with almost no chance at winning. At this point they’re only stalling. That’s kinda dirty.

I put the vast majority of the blame on New York. If Sheen wasn’t up for sainthood, I doubt they’d care this much. I doubt they actually care about Sheen’s wishes, and they certainly aren’t respecting his living family’s wishes. That being said, I am highly biased, as I’m a strong supporter of Peoria.
 
New York is totally behind on having a saint in their Cathedral. Philadelphia has one now, and while I miss the shrine she was originally at (which was sold off by the order), she gets a lot more visiting tourists at the Cathedral. You can also touch her tomb and make your own third class relics.

I know people will come to St. Patrick’s anyway, even without a saint interred there, but I can see where they want one of their own. Egan dropped the ball on this though and it’s too late to pick it up.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
New York is totally behind on having a saint in their Cathedral. Philadelphia has one now, and while I miss the shrine she was originally at (which was sold off by the order), she gets a lot more visiting tourists at the Cathedral. You can also touch her tomb and make your own third class relics.
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Who’s that? St. Katherine Drexel?
 
Yes, she was moved last year from Bensalem, a suburb that’s not too accessible without a car, to the Cathedral downtown. They had a big fancy Mass for her re-interment and I’ve noticed when attending Masses there, if there’s tourists at the Mass (like if the city is having some event like a football game or a marathon), the priest will mention to the congregation that they should visit her tomb before they leave.

St. John Neumann is also in the city at the Redemptorist shrine church, where he is interred in a glass case under the chapel altar.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
St. John Neumann is also in the city at the Redemptorist shrine church, where he is interred in a glass case under the chapel altar.
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Yes, I’ve seen the pictures of his tomb. That’s one that I’ve often wanted to visit. If I’m ever in Philly, I’ll be putting him at the top of my list to visit.
 
He’s in a scruffy-looking neighborhood but I’ve never had any trouble visiting other than the usual traffic snarl hassles. He gets a good number of tourists.

Also if you’re ever in town, visit the Miraculous Medal Shrine church run by the Vincentians. It doesn’t have a saint in it but it has some items related to St. Catherine Laboure and it’s a beautiful church.

There’s also a shrine to St. Rita of Cascia whose feast day is today, but I haven’t been there yet.
 
Nice! Thanks for the tips. I’ll keep them in mind if I ever have business out that way.
 
Oh, I went to St. Rita’s shrine years ago when we lived in a suburb of Philly. Very nice. 🙂 Forgot all about that til you mentioned it!
 
I don’t understand why this is a legal suit at all. Why are particular Churches (dioceses) taking each other to secular court? It’s shameful. If there is truly a dispute that can’t be settled, shouldn’t this go to a Church tribunal?
 
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