There's a new salvo in the battle between the Peoria Diocese and the Archdiocese of New York over who gets the remains of the famous Catholic TV evangelist, Bishop Fulton Sheen.
The Peoria Diocese has been pushing for the canonization of Sheen, who was born in El Paso, Illinois and raised in Peoria. In 2014, the diocese announced that the sainthood effort could not move forward because the Archdiocese of New York refused to release Sheen's remains to be examined.
In a rare public rebuke between bishops, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky said New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan had stonewalled its requests. Now, Jenky has enlisted the help of a Sheen family member, who has petitioned the New York Supreme to order a transfer of the remains.
Sheen appeared to be closer to beatification after a miracle was attributed to his intercession in 2014. Pending the New York court's ruling, Sheen's body remains interred in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. Sheen's popular program "Life Is Worth Living" was a pioneer of TV evangelization.