The Making of Saints

In the What is the True Meaning of Christmas thread in "Let's Talk Religion", in the midst of a discussion of the merits of the sacrifice of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Tim carefully explained the reason for all of the hoops and requirements of canonization (including the two miracles by intercession), together with his own doubts that such a process need always be so strictly followed.

JTF seconded:

I think many Catholics would agree with you, Tim, that the miracle thing is a bit superfluous and maybe the process of canonisation needs a bit of aggiornamento. But as you say, there has to be a process for the public, official proclamation of a saint, and as you also say, there are plenty of non-official saints that we can look to.

It occurs to me wonder that we are perhaps seeing signs of the process loosening up, but more in the direction of a ressourcement of the older path to canonization, of the acclamation of sanctity as an expression of the sensus fidelium, as a path equal to or even ahead of the juridical process that had become standard.

We all remember, of course, the cries of "Santo subito!" that filled St. Peter's Square upon John Paul II's death -- cries which were but one sign of the overwhelming popular sentiment that likely prompted Benedict to dispense with the nominal waiting period before his cause could commence.

Benedict then invoked the procedures of "equivalent canonization" to raise Hildegard of Bingen to the altar in 2011, an intermediary step to later proclaiming her the fourth female Doctor of the Church.

In less than a year in office, meanwhile, Francis has exercised his papal prerogative to bypass the standard procedures at least twice, first to greenlight John XXIII for elevation next year; and earlier this month, to use the aforementioned equivalent canonization to make the Ignatian companion Peter Faber a saint.

Do you think these acts are evidence of change afoot -- or am I just trying to read too much into the tea leaves?

I hope I'm not throwing a spanner in the works, but I would add that unless your proposed saint is one of the fast-track ones, it takes a huge amount of resources, both human and financial, to get someone canonised. I know of religious orders who have spent a lot of money getting their founder canonised. It takes years (or even decades) of painstaking research, lobbying within the Vatican, specialist advocates, etc.

In general, the church has gone into saint-making overdrive at the same time as saints have become less and less important to ordinary Catholics, at least in the west. It's a bit of a paradox.

The fastest nun in the West

Sister Blandina Segale: A Cincinnati Saint (?)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxbVEMZpJ3M

Her letters to her sister were published as At the End of the Santa Fe Trail

A married couple with seven children to be beatified by the Catholic Church for martyrdom by Nazis (CNA)

Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of a married couple with seven children who were killed by the Nazis for hiding a Jewish family in their home in Poland. The pope signed on Dec. 17 a decree on the martyrdom of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, who were executed along with all their children in 1944. The World Holocaust Remembrance Center has honored the couple as Righteous Among the Nations for the sacrifice of their lives. With the recognition of their martyrdom by the pope, the Polish couple can now be beatified with the couple’s seven children (including one unborn).

Early on March 24, 1944, a Nazi patrol surrounded the home of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma on the outskirts of the village of Markowa in southeast Poland. They discovered eight Jewish people who had found refuge on the Ulma farm and executed them. The Nazi police then killed Wiktoria, who was seven months pregnant, and Józef. As children began to scream at the sight of their murdered parents, the Nazis shot them too: Stanisława, age 8, Barbara, 7, Władysław, 6, Franciszek, 4, Antoni, 3, and Maria, 2.

Pope Francis signed the decree on their martyrdom on his 86th birthday, advancing 15 other causes for canonization, including recognizing the heroic virtue of Matteo Ricci, a well-known 17th-century Jesuit missionary in China. The pope also approved the “offering of life” of Franz de Castro Holzwarth, a Brazilian lawyer who was killed at the age of 38 in 1981 when he offered to replace a hostage during a prison riot. He also recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Jacinto Vera, the first bishop of Montevideo, Uruguay. In the decree, Pope Francis confirmed the heroic virtue of 13 Servants of God... four Catholic priests and one brother were recognized as Venerable...

What queer theory taught me about the saints (NCR)

There is an unofficial canon of queer Catholic saints. Those who know it, know it. These are historical, canonical, Vatican-approved Catholic saints — saints that our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and ancestors in faith have prayed to for centuries — that in the past 50 years or so have been unofficially but popularly labeled as "queer"...

In my own country, the 12th century Cistercian monk Aelred of Rievaulx has been widely venerated as a saint by Catholics and Anglicans since at least the 15th century, and has long been thought to have been homosexual. His writings on spirituality have been a great resource for spiritual directors, particularly his book De spiritali amicitia (On Spiritual Friendship).

Meet the six newest venerable servants of God in the Catholic Church (CNA)

Pope Francis declared six Catholics as venerable servants of God on Thursday, moving them each one step closer to canonization. In a decree signed on Jan. 19, the pope recognized the heroic virtue of an Italian stigmatic, four 20th-century priests, and a holy laywoman who spent much of her life in a sickbed...

A surfing saint? Pope Francis recognizes the heroic virtue of Guido Schäffer (CNA)

The Catholic Church is one step closer to canonizing a surfing saint. Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Brazil’s “Surfer Angel” Guido Schäffer in a decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Saturday. Schäffer was a seminarian, a doctor, and a surfer who drowned while surfing in 2009 off the coast of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 34 before he could fulfill his desire of being ordained to the priesthood. The Brazilian seminarian, known locally as the “Anjo Surfista” or “Surfer Angel,” used to begin each of his surfing lessons with a prayer and was known for his work with the poor, providing medical care to Rio’s “favelas” (poor, working-class neighborhoods) alongside the Missionaries of Charity. With the decree, Pope Francis declared Schäffer “venerable”...

“A great joy for the Church”: Catholic Bishop on “Baba Simon”, Cameroon’s First Venerable (ACI Africa)

The recognition of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Simon Mpeke, popularly known as Baba Simon, who becomes Cameroon’s first Venerable, is a “great joy for the Church” in the Central African nation, the Local Ordinary of Edéa, Baba Simon’s Diocese of origin, has said. On May 20, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Simon Mpeke alongside eight others.. Born in 1906 in Batombé in Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Edéa, Baba Simon was ordained a Priest in December 1935. He gained recognition in the Central African nation and beyond for his missionary work with the Kirdis, a marginalized and often persecuted community in the far North of the country. Upon reading an article about the existence of this vulnerable population, Fr. Mpeke felt an inner calling to evangelize and support them. From 1959 until his passing on in August 1975, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to this noble cause...

The provocations of Dorothy Day and a revolution of the heart (Tablet)

When Dorothy died people wondered if the Catholic Worker movement would survive her passing. The CW is celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this year – I think that question can be laid to rest. A better question to ask now is: What is she still teaching us? I have –daringly – identified nine major teachings, which I have referred to as consolations, lamentations or ruinations, but most commonly “provocations”. These are not rules or step-by-step instructions. They are more akin to adding ingredients to a soup, or a weaving of intertwining threads, and I may be doing a disservice by putting them in some kind of order. I can’t claim to know much about each provocation, and I have many more questions than answers. Dorothy spoke of the mystery of our freedom – one of the greatest gifts God gave us, she said. She also said that we struggle against both freedom and responsibility, and we always will. There is no point in telling people what to do. It has to be a revolution from within, a revolution of the heart...

Dorothy’s life, her work and words can be utterly uncomfortable. Pick any element of the Catholic Worker programme and ­philosophy, and you might find yourself running for the hills. Opening houses of hospitality in which nothing is asked of those who are given refuge, whether the “deserving” or “undeserving” poor. Her stance on non-violence can provoke people into anger, and her insistence on voluntary poverty cuts at the very roots of our society and most of what we strive for. She was an “obedient daughter of the Church” and yet challenged and chastised the bishops when she saw need. She insisted on always responding to the here and now in practical terms, emphasising personal responsibility and not resting in ideology. All the Catholic Worker beliefs are expressions of the deep trust in the Gospels, a deep trust in Christ against all reason. Such trust can be deeply unsettling and uncomfortable. Dorothy rarely felt comfortable...

These nine "provocations" identified by Dorothy Day's granddaughter Kate Hennessy will appear week by week in the Tablet. I may not get round to posting all nine of them, but you can read them online in the Tablet. You need to register to read it, but it's free registration.

Mother Mary Lange, founder of first African American religious congregation, declared venerable (CNA)

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, a Black religious sister who founded the country’s first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829... Elizabeth Lange, as she was named, immigrated to the United States from Cuba in the early 1800s. Recognizing the lack of education for the children of her fellow Black immigrants, with a friend she established St. Frances Academy in her own home and with her own money to offer free schooling to Baltimore’s African American children. With the support of Baltimore Archbishop James Whitfield, she founded a school for “girls of color” and then the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious community for women of African descent...

Pope Francis advances the sainthood cause of Fatima’s Sister Lucia (CNA)

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Sister Lucia dos Santos, the eldest child to witness the Fatima apparitions. In a decree signed on June 22, the pope recognized Lucia’s heroic virtue and declared her “venerable.” The Church will now need to approve a miracle attributed to her intercession before she can be beatified. Pope Francis already canonized the two other Fatima visionaries, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, in 2017. The two shepherd children, who died at 10 and 11 respectively, are the youngest non-martyr saints in the Church’s history. Lucia, who was 10 years old at the time of the 1917 Marian apparitions, outlived the other visionaries by decades, surviving until age 97...

Pope Francis asks Church to identify 21st-century martyrs slain ‘only because they are Christians’ (AP)

Pope Francis has set up a special commission tasked with identifying those he calls the “new martyrs” of the 21st century — Christians who have been slain in some cases simply for attending Mass or for helping the poor... "As I have said so many times, martyrs ‘are more numerous in our time than in the first centuries,’'' of the Church, Francis wrote... Modern-time martyrs include clergy as well as “lay people and families, who, in various countries of the world, with the gift of their life, offered the supreme proof of charity"... At the pope’s direction, the commission’s members will research cases of non-Catholic Christian martyrs, too. The commission is tasked with “working up a catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to acknowledge Christ and to give witness to His Gospel,’' Francis wrote in his letter. ”The martyrs of the Church are witnesses to the hope that derives from faith in Christ and inspires true charity,’' he said. Francis is building on a drive started by St. John Paul II to give rank-and-file faithful more recent role models among the saints...

The mention of non-Catholic Christian martyrs would certainly be meaningful in Uganda, where the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs are remembered together, but also in Britain where Anglicans and Catholics share many of the same saints.

Pope: Ulma family a ‘symbol of values that must not be betrayed’ (Vatican News)

As the beatification of the Ulma family approaches on 10 September, Pope Francis upholds their collective witness of faith in giving their lives to save Jews during World War II...

Vatican beatifies Polish family executed by Nazis for sheltering Jews (Guardian)

The Vatican has beatified a Polish family of nine – a married couple and their small children – who were executed by the Nazis during the second world war for sheltering Jews... the Ulmas “paid the highest price of martyrdom”... Last year, Francis pronounced the strictly Catholic Ulma family, including the child that Wiktoria Ulma was pregnant with, martyrs for the faith. The Ulmas were killed at home by German Nazi troops and by Nazi-controlled local police in the small hours of 24 March 1944, together with the eight Jews they were hiding at their home, after they were apparently betrayed. Jozef Ulma, 44, was a farmer, Catholic activist and amateur photographer who documented family and village life. He lived with Wiktoria, 31, and their daughters Stanislawa, seven, Barbara, six, Maria, 18 months, and sons Wladyslaw, five, Franciszek, three, and Antoni, two. Killed with them were 70-year-old Saul Goldman and his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Mojzesz, along with Golda Grunfeld and her sister Lea Didner with her young daughter Reszla...

Tanzanian Archdiocese Seeks Information for First President’s Canonization (ACI Africa)

The Catholic Church in Tanzania is seeking information about the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of God Julius Kambarage Nyerere to proceed with his cause of beatification and canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared Tanzania’s first president Servant of God on 13 May 2005. In an edict shared with ACI Africa Tuesday, November 15 Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar-es-Salaam invited Tanzanians to send information, “both favorable and unfavorable” to the body tasked with overseeing the course of the Servant of God Nyerere. “We invite all the faithful to communicate to us directly or to send to the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, any information - both favorable or unfavorable - regarding the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of God as a Catholic lay faithful and father of a family, as well as his reputation for holiness and intercessory power,” Archbishop Ruwa’ichi said...

Pope Francis to preside over canonization Mass of Argentina’s first female saint (CNA)

Pope Francis next month will preside over the canonization Mass of the woman set to become Argentina’s first female saint, the Vatican said this week. The pope will preside over the Mass for Blessed María Antonia of St. Joseph on Feb. 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica... María Antonia was proclaimed “Venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and was later beatified by Pope Francis in 2016...

An interesting reflection by Buddhist teacher Lama Rod Owens..

Becoming a New Saint

New Saint is a contemporary expression of an ancient Buddhist tradition that understands the saint as a bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is roughly translated as “spiritual warrior” and is one who is motivated by the energy of bodhicitta, or a profound altruistic wish to free all beings from suffering. I feel that the world is desperate for a reframing of this tradition that is contemporary, direct, simple, and accessible to all folks, especially those who do not identify as Buddhist.

Saints are people from various spiritual and religious traditions who have deeply embodied love and compassion and whose embodiment has inspired countless others to aspire to that same practice. However, for most of us, sainthood seems a lofty and vague endeavor that is more divine and religious than practical. This current era is calling for saints—New Saints—who are from this time and place, who speak the language of this time and place, and, most importantly, who embrace the integration of both social and ultimate liberation. New Saints can surrender into the Divine or spiritual while disrupting systems of violence. I believe that we all can and must become New Saints for ourselves and our communities...

The New Saint’s end goal is liberation for themselves, all beings, and all phenomena. Everything must be freed. The cultivation and unification of clarity, love, compassion, and joy point the New Saint toward freedom….

When I say “freedom” or “liberation,” I am talking about our fundamental capacity to choose responsiveness over reactivity. Experiencing the sensations of our minds and bodies reduces reactivity and allows us to experience fluidity. When there is more fluidity, there is more potential for care, and that care helps us to reduce violence against ourselves and others. Freedom is the agency to choose how we want to be in relationship with ourselves and the world around us.…

On the community level, outer freedom means that the community has agency to determine what it needs and has access to what it needs. Individuals are held, loved, and given space to meet their needs within and with the support of the community. It means being able to live in harmony with other communities and not feeling dominant or feeling the need to dominate. There is room for cooperation and understanding...

In the end, we must understand that our feelings about freedom have nothing to do with freedom. Freedom isn’t a feeling; it is as much a state of being and experiencing as joy. To be free is to remember that I have always been free. The real labor of liberation is acknowledging that there is always a choice, even though I must work to get back to that choice.