Pope Puts Sheen, Sicily Priest on Sainthood Path Pope Benedict XVI has put Fulton John Sheen, the U.S. bishop whose radio and TV shows denouncing Communism and liberal psychology had a big following, on the path to sainthood. Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Wednesday, June 27, 2012. The Vatican said Thursday the pope formally recognized the "heroic virtues" of Sheen, a former Rochester bishop who died in New York in 1979. That formality paves the way for procedures aimed at possible beatification, the last formal step before sainthood. Benedict also proclaimed as a martyr a Sicilian priest who was gunned down by the Mafia in 1993 after challenging mobsters to change their ways. The pope had hailed Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi as a hero when he visited Palermo in 2010. If a miracle is attributed to Puglisi's intercession, sainthood can be bestowed.