Bishop Fulton Sheen/File Photo courtesy of WJBC.com.

By Howard Packowitz and A.J. Harris

The remains of famed Archbishop Fulton Sheen of El Paso appear to be a step closer to being moved to central Illinois from Sheen’s current resting place in New York City.     

An appeals court in New York voted unanimously to side with Sheen’s niece, Joan Sheen Cunningham, who wants her uncle’s remains moved to a shrine at Peoria’s St. Mary’s Cathedral. 

Sheen is buried now at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the New York Archdiocese has challenged two previous court rulings allowing for the transfer.  

In a news release, the Diocese of Peoria pleaded with the New York Catholic Church to end the “legal tug-of-war.” 

The Peoria Diocese, which covers Livingston County, believes moving Sheen’s remains closer to home will speed-up the process to elevate him to sainthood.