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A New Look For The Canonization Process Under Pope Francis - National Catholic Reporter
A New Look For The Canonization Process Under Pope Francis - National Catholic Reporter
A New Look For The Canonization Process Under Pope Francis - National Catholic Reporter
September 30, 2014Pope John Paul II has always had a reputation for
Take a look at a list of the saints Francis has canonized since the beginning of his
pontificate. As of this printing, there are 10. What is striking is that six of them --
more than half -- were canonized without the two requisite miracles.
Moreover, the Vatican has just announced that another saint, Giuseppe Vaz of Sri
Lanka, will also have his second miracle waived.
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21/4/24, 0:07 A new look for the canonization process under Pope Francis? | National Catholic Reporter
According to Cardinal Angelo Amato of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
the process, "though not frequent, is not rare." It had been used most recently by
Pope Benedict XVI in the case of Hildegard of Bingen, whom he also made a doctor of
the church. Yet it is increasingly in vogue under Pope Francis, who may soon hold
the honor of making more saints by equivalent canonization than all of his
predecessors combined.
This is fitting for a pope who has insisted that the church be of the poor. The saint-
making process -- with its drawn-out inquiries and trials -- is notoriously
expensive, and usually only dioceses and religious orders with some financial means
are capable of launching these protracted canonization campaigns. This has resulted
in an underrepresentation of saints among the laity and in some less traditionally
Catholic countries around the world.
This discrepancy has caught the pope's attention. Meeting a Cambodian woman in
South Korea, for instance, he reportedly promised to speak to "my friend Angelo"
about the dearth of native Cambodian saints.
Acting on executive order like this could help to democratize the process for smaller
churches eager to see their local blesseds recognized. Along these lines, it is worth
noting that the soon-to-be-canonized Vaz will be Sri Lanka's first native-born
saint.
But saint-making is just one way among many that a pope can set the church's tone.
Perhaps the greater stakes here involve traditional pieties concerning the
supernatural.
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