On the road to sainthood

This morning in Rome, the Holy Father approved 21 decrees posited by the Congregation for Causes of Saints. This is probably the most decrees published by this Congregation in a very long time.

Among those most well-known in these parts are:

• a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed André Bessette (born Alfred), religious of the Congregation of the Holy Cross (known affectionately as Frère or Brother André); born in Saint-Grégoire d'Iberville, Canada, Aug. 9, 1845, and died in Montreal, Canada, Jan. 6, 1937;
• a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mary MacKillop (born Mary Helen), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart; born Jan. 15, 1842 in Fitzroy, Australia, and died Aug. 8, 1909, in Sydney, Australia;
• the heroic virtues of Servant of God Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), supreme pontiff; born in Rome on March 2, 1876, and died in Castel Gandolfo on Oct. 9, 1958;
• the heroic virtues of Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla), supreme pontiff; born May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, and died in April 2, 2005, in Rome; and
• the heroic virtues of Servant of God Mary Ward, founder of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loretto Sisters), born in Mulwith, England, Jan. 23, 1585, and died in Hewarth, England, Jan. 30, 1645;

The process followed for the declaration of sainthood is quite involved, and requires a total of two miracles to be attributed to the intercession of the person in question. One miracle is required for a Servant of God to be raised to the level of Blessed, and a second miracle is required for the Blesseds to be declared Saints.

Expect to see these elevations take place sometime in the future. Mary McKillop would be the first Australian-born saint and therefore well and truly celebrated by Aussie Catholics.

The process of investigation for Causes of Saints was outlined most recently by His Holiness John Paul II in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister (Jan 25, 1983) and further clarified by a series of norms adopted on Feb 7 of that same year. Procedures for the rite of beatification were published in a communiqué dated September 25, 2005 and the most recent instruction (entitled Sanctorum Mater) describing the procedure for conducting diocesan or eparchial Inquiries into the causes of Saints, guidelines to assist local churches in the process of compiling the data necessary for the introduction of a Cause for sainthood, were published on May 17, 2007.