Archbishop Fulton Sheen Catholics in public life, saints and sainthood candidates, figures from US history, military heroes, leaders in science, politicians and athletes were included in a list of dozens of figures President Donald Trump said will be in a new National Garden of American Heroes he created by executive order January 18. The garden “will be built to reflect the awesome splendour of our country’s timeless exceptionalism,” he said in the order.
His plan for a public garden “where the legends of America’s past will be remembered” is in part an effort, he said, to counter last summer’s destruction and violence aimed at statues and memorials around the country. Catholic figures in Trump’s list include: Nellie Gray, founder of the March for Life; Sts Kateri Tekakwitha, Junipero Serra and Elizabeth Ann Seton; Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Catholic Worker co-founder and sainthood candidate Dorothy Day; Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, a sainthood candidate who has been declared Venerable.