Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes Queens, celebrated Mass on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at Our Lady of Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Forest Hills, in honor of last week’s beatification of Blessed Fulton John Sheen.
In 1963, Bishop Sheen led an historic six-week Lenten retreat at the church. For several years after his initial visit, he returned to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs on Good Friday to deliver the Three Hours’ Agony devotion. Archbishop Sheen preached from the church’s wooden pulpit, that remains part of the parish today.
“I love the fact that we have a connection with Blessed Fulton Sheen right here at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and throughout our Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens. Archbishop Sheen was a New Yorker, and how amazing is it that he walked among us? May we be inspired by the likes of Fulton Sheen to walk together, still struggling, still making our mistakes, and always striving for the holiness to which God calls us,” said Bishop Robert Brennan during his homily.
Among those in attendance at the Mass was Ann Pfohl Kirby, who was married to John Kirby on October 30, 1954, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, by then-Bishop Fulton Sheen. He also baptized one of their children.
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