Latest news with #DicasteryfortheCausesofSaints
Hamilton Spectator
30-06-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
First US center to train Catholics on canonization process to open in 2026
(RNS) — The first formation center for canonization in the United States is scheduled to open at St. Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California, in early 2026. The Center for Sainthood, commissioned by San Francisco's Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in an April 14 decree, aims to train sainthood enthusiasts on the inner workings of canonization. Announced earlier this month, the seminary's six-day, in-person certification course promises to teach 'how to honor deserving candidates and expedite their path to sainthood in the Vatican,' according to the center's website. Fifty years after the canonization of the first U.S.-born saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founders of the center said they hope to ignite a stronger saintly American culture. As causes to canonize laypeople and Black American saints have sparked interest among Catholics, what's been missing is a better understanding of the yearslong process, the center's founders said. Michael McDevitt, a spokesperson for the new center who has worked on the cause of Servant of God Cora Evans since 2012, said fellow volunteers could have used training when they started her candidacy. The cause for the Utah-born Catholic convert, raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is now under review at the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. 'It seems complex in one sense because there's these many different steps, but once you learn how to move forward … it's not that it's difficult, it's just that it's unknown,' McDevitt told Religion News Service. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Despite being eager to start causes, many volunteers are deterred by the process seeming out of reach, he said. For this reason, the center's course will focus on the work required at a diocesan level, before petitions are sent to Rome. It includes interviewing historians and theologians, as well as compiling proofs of miracles. McDevitt said he thinks the initiative could appease divisions among American Catholics. 'It'll help encourage people to come back who have drifted away,' he said. 'These are beautiful stories. These are wonderful people that are also ordinary.' Outside of Rome, where the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints offers a one-semester course on the topic in Italian, canonization remains obscure for most Catholics, explained Emanuele Spedicato, an associate professor of canon law at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. In February, Spedicato, the canon lawyer assigned to Evans' cause, will fly to California to teach the center's first cohort of 50 students. 'Outside of Rome and of Italy, where there is a stronger formation from the Vatican, the biggest challenge is really the formation of the people involved in a cause of canonization,' he said. The first part of the course will introduce participants to the Catholic Church's sainthood culture, highlighting how the canonization process has evolved from the ages of martyrs to present day. The training will also include the theological aspect of canonization and will detail the three reasons for which a cause can be started: a person dying in martyrdom, one exercising heroic virtues or one offering their lives in the exercise of their ministry. An entire day will be dedicated to miracles — 'a (key) element in a process of canonization' — Spedicato said. Miracles refer to events that occurred 'by the Grace of God through the intercession of a Venerable, or Blessed, which is scientifically inexplicable,' according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' website. For Kathleen Sprows Cummings, an American studies and history professor at University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the author of 'A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American' (2019), the St. Patrick's Seminary initiative signals an interesting shift in the American Catholic Church's approach to sainthood. After despairing about not seeing more American-born saint candidates and decades of volunteers vying for more attention to their causes, Sprows Cummings said faithfuls creating networks and working side by side is a new strategy. 'This is a sign that those days are over — that there's actually many candidates from the United States who are being considered, and that it's in their interest to cooperate rather than compete,' she said. 'It's not a zero-sum game. The popularity of some saints spills over into making others more popular.' The way American Catholics work on causes has also evolved, she noted. Instead of religious order members working full time on causes, now many involve part-time volunteers for whom training can be invaluable. And in recent years, a number of causes for lay Catholics have gained traction among Americans, she said, including those of 6 Black candidates. After George Floyd's murder by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, interest in the causes of Black candidates increased. 'In a time when the United States is trying to reconcile with the legacy of racism, and the Catholic Church is asking what its part was in that, these stories have a lot of appeal,' Sprows Cummings said. Waldery Hilgeman, the postulator, or person guiding the causes, for three Black saint candidates – Servant of God Julia Greeley, Mother Mary Lange and Venerable Henriette DeLille – will teach classes at the center alongside Spedicato. As Catholics, in America and across the world, await signs of what Pope Leo XIV's approach to saint-making will be, Sprows Cummings said she believes the pope will be compelled to walk in the steps of his predecessors, two 'energetic saint-makers,' as a number of causes are already underway at the dicastery. The new pope, she said, could potentially 'be very interested in … a broader representation of a diversity of the world's Catholics represented as saints.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Winnipeg Free Press
30-06-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
First US center to train Catholics on canonization process to open in 2026
(RNS) — The first formation center for canonization in the United States is scheduled to open at St. Patrick's Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California, in early 2026. The Center for Sainthood, commissioned by San Francisco's Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in an April 14 decree, aims to train sainthood enthusiasts on the inner workings of canonization. Announced earlier this month, the seminary's six-day, in-person certification course promises to teach 'how to honor deserving candidates and expedite their path to sainthood in the Vatican,' according to the center's website. Fifty years after the canonization of the first U.S.-born saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founders of the center said they hope to ignite a stronger saintly American culture. As causes to canonize laypeople and Black American saints have sparked interest among Catholics, what's been missing is a better understanding of the yearslong process, the center's founders said. Michael McDevitt, a spokesperson for the new center who has worked on the cause of Servant of God Cora Evans since 2012, said fellow volunteers could have used training when they started her candidacy. The cause for the Utah-born Catholic convert, raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is now under review at the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. 'It seems complex in one sense because there's these many different steps, but once you learn how to move forward … it's not that it's difficult, it's just that it's unknown,' McDevitt told Religion News Service. ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Despite being eager to start causes, many volunteers are deterred by the process seeming out of reach, he said. For this reason, the center's course will focus on the work required at a diocesan level, before petitions are sent to Rome. It includes interviewing historians and theologians, as well as compiling proofs of miracles. McDevitt said he thinks the initiative could appease divisions among American Catholics. 'It'll help encourage people to come back who have drifted away,' he said. 'These are beautiful stories. These are wonderful people that are also ordinary.' Outside of Rome, where the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints offers a one-semester course on the topic in Italian, canonization remains obscure for most Catholics, explained Emanuele Spedicato, an associate professor of canon law at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University. In February, Spedicato, the canon lawyer assigned to Evans' cause, will fly to California to teach the center's first cohort of 50 students. 'Outside of Rome and of Italy, where there is a stronger formation from the Vatican, the biggest challenge is really the formation of the people involved in a cause of canonization,' he said. The first part of the course will introduce participants to the Catholic Church's sainthood culture, highlighting how the canonization process has evolved from the ages of martyrs to present day. The training will also include the theological aspect of canonization and will detail the three reasons for which a cause can be started: a person dying in martyrdom, one exercising heroic virtues or one offering their lives in the exercise of their ministry. An entire day will be dedicated to miracles — 'a (key) element in a process of canonization' — Spedicato said. Miracles refer to events that occurred 'by the Grace of God through the intercession of a Venerable, or Blessed, which is scientifically inexplicable,' according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' website. For Kathleen Sprows Cummings, an American studies and history professor at University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the author of 'A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for a Holy Hero Helped Catholics Become American' (2019), the St. Patrick's Seminary initiative signals an interesting shift in the American Catholic Church's approach to sainthood. After despairing about not seeing more American-born saint candidates and decades of volunteers vying for more attention to their causes, Sprows Cummings said faithfuls creating networks and working side by side is a new strategy. 'This is a sign that those days are over — that there's actually many candidates from the United States who are being considered, and that it's in their interest to cooperate rather than compete,' she said. 'It's not a zero-sum game. The popularity of some saints spills over into making others more popular.' The way American Catholics work on causes has also evolved, she noted. Instead of religious order members working full time on causes, now many involve part-time volunteers for whom training can be invaluable. And in recent years, a number of causes for lay Catholics have gained traction among Americans, she said, including those of 6 Black candidates. After George Floyd's murder by a police officer in Minneapolis in 2020, interest in the causes of Black candidates increased. 'In a time when the United States is trying to reconcile with the legacy of racism, and the Catholic Church is asking what its part was in that, these stories have a lot of appeal,' Sprows Cummings said. Waldery Hilgeman, the postulator, or person guiding the causes, for three Black saint candidates – Servant of God Julia Greeley, Mother Mary Lange and Venerable Henriette DeLille – will teach classes at the center alongside Spedicato. As Catholics, in America and across the world, await signs of what Pope Leo XIV's approach to saint-making will be, Sprows Cummings said she believes the pope will be compelled to walk in the steps of his predecessors, two 'energetic saint-makers,' as a number of causes are already underway at the dicastery. The new pope, she said, could potentially 'be very interested in … a broader representation of a diversity of the world's Catholics represented as saints.'
Hindustan Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Who is Cardinal Becciu? Why isn't he participating in conclave to elect new pope?
Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 76, once a leading papal contender and a longtime Vatican diplomat, is not participating in the conclave to elect a new pope to succeed Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88. Becciu was forced by Francis to resign as the head of the Vatican's saint-making office, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and renounce his rights of the cardinalate on September 24, 2020.(AP file) Becciu had asserted his rights to participate in the May 7 conclave but withdrew after he was reportedly presented with two letters written by Francis before his death, saying he shouldn't participate due to allegations of corruption. The cardinal's statement released through his lawyer, Fabio Viglione, said, 'Having at heart the good of the church, which I have served and will continue to serve with fidelity and love, as well as to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave, I have decided to obey as I have always done the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave while remaining convinced of my innocence.' Becciu was forced by Francis to resign as the head of the Vatican's saint-making office, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and renounce his rights of the cardinalate on September 24, 2020, over several allegations of financial mismanagement. He is currently fighting a legal battle against the 2023 conviction by the Vatican's criminal court. The cardinal has denied all allegations and claimed that his trial was manipulated from the start. Who is Cardinal Angelo Becciu? A native of Sardinia, Becciu has served in Vatican embassies in several countries before taking up one of the most powerful jobs as 'substitute' in the Vatican Secretariat of State. It was Francis himself who made Becciu a cardinal in 2018 before the allegations surfaced. Known as a conservative from the old guard, Becciu rose to prominence under Pope Benedict XVI due to ideological affinity and became a close adviser to Francis, who advocated reforms and pursued social goals. Case linked to the Vatican's London investment A 487-page chargesheet from Vatican's prosecutors accused Becciu and nine others of money laundering, extortion and fraud among other serious allegations. The accused allegedly fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions during its 350-million-euro investment in a luxury London property. Becciu, then serving as the Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, was accused of authorising the investment without proper oversight. Prosecutors also accused Becciu of sending 125,000 euros in Vatican money to a diocesan charity run by his brother in Sardinia. He argued that the money was meant for a local bishop who requested it for a bakery to employ at-risk youths, and the money remained in diocesan coffers. Becciu is also alleged to have paid a company run by a Sardinian woman, Cecilia Marogna, for its intelligence services. Prosecutors claimed to have traced transfers worth some 575,000 euros paid by the Vatican and expenditures for high-end luxury goods. The cardinal has said he thought the money was to be paid to a British security firm to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun who had been taken hostage by Islamic militants in Mali in 2017. Manipulated trial? The main allegation against the 'trial of the century' is that the prosecution's prime witness against Becciu and others was coached and manipulated by outsiders. Defence lawyers also argued that the pope's intervention, as an absolute monarch, during the trial violated their clients' right to a fair trial. The Pope's secret decrees to allow prosecutors to conduct intercepts and detain suspects without a judge's warrant were discovered during the trial and cited as interference. New evidence emerges The Vatican's tribunal had rejected these allegations, but new evidence that emerged in recent weeks about potential collusion between Vatican prosecutors and gendarmes (Vatican police) to target Becciu. An audio clip and WhatsApp chats published by the Domani newspaper suggested collusion to manipulate witnesses against the cardinal. Becciu reacted to these revelations, saying, 'From the very first moment I spoke of a machination against me: an investigation built on falsehoods, which five years ago unjustly devastated my life and exposed me to a pillory of worldwide proportions.' Hearing of his appeal against the conviction is set to begin in September. (With AP inputs)
Straits Times
27-04-2025
- General
- Straits Times
Will Pope Francis be made a saint?
For most of the church's history, decades usually passed between a person's death and the beginning of a push for their canonisation. PHOTO: REUTERS VATICAN CITY – Although two of the five popes before Pope Francis have been named saints, merely serving as pontiff is not a shoo-in to canonisation. At least not anymore. In the early years of the Roman Catholic Church, most popes, starting with St Peter, who is considered the first to hold the seat, were named saints after they died. Of the first 50 popes, 48 got the honour. Over time, it became much rarer. To date, 80 of the 266 popes to serve over nearly 2,000 years have been canonised. Eleven others are on a waiting list of sorts, having been beatified, the penultimate step to sainthood. Getting there involves years of investigation and review by the church, particularly the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Vatican officials and consultants examine candidates' goodness, holiness and devotion to God and carefully scrutinise their writings. Those who pass muster are declared 'venerable'. The next step is beatification, which requires the dicastery to accept the validity of a miracle brought about by the intercession of the candidate. After that, the Vatican must accept the validity of a second miracle attributed to the person's intercession for them to be declared a saint. The pope makes the final decision on canonisation. The most recent pope to be canonised was Paul VI in 2018. Four years earlier, John XXIII and John Paul II became saints at a joint ceremony. For most of the church's history, decades usually passed between a person's death and the beginning of a push for their canonisation. From 1588 to 1978, the average time span between a person's death and sainthood was 262 years, according to Rachel McCleary, a researcher at Harvard University. That dropped to just over 100 years during the last three papacies, in part because John Paul II shortened the waiting period to begin a cause for sainthood, as the process is known, to five years after a person's death. Even that can be waived. At John Paul II's 2005 funeral, which hundreds of thousands attended, banners and cheers rose from the mourners saying, 'Santo, subito,' or 'Sainthood now'. His successor, Benedict XVI, waived the waiting period, allowing John Paul to be canonised nine years after his death. After a Vatican report in 2020 found that John Paul may have ignored accusations of sexual abuse against disgraced former prelate Theodore McCarrick, critics wondered whether the pontiff been had been made a saint too soon. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New York Times
26-04-2025
- General
- New York Times
Will Pope Francis Be Made a Saint?
Although two of the five popes before Pope Francis have been named saints, merely serving as pontiff is not a shoo-in to canonization. At least not anymore. In the early years of the Roman Catholic Church, most popes, starting with St. Peter, who is considered the first to hold the seat, were named saints after they died. Of the first 50 popes, 48 got the honor. Over time, it became much rarer. To date, 80 of the 266 popes to serve over nearly 2,000 years have been canonized. Another 11 are on a waiting list of sorts, having been beatified, the penultimate step to sainthood. Getting there involves years of investigation and review by the church, particularly the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Vatican officials and consultants examine candidates' goodness, holiness and devotion to God and carefully scrutinizes their writings. Those who pass muster are declared 'venerable.' The next step is beatification, which requires the dicastery to accept the validity of a miracle brought about by the intercession of the candidate. After that, the Vatican must accept the validity of a second miracle attributed to the person's intercession for them to be declared a saint. The pope makes the final decision on canonization. The most recent popes to be been canonized are John XXIII and John Paul II. They became saints at a joint ceremony that Francis presided over in 2014. For most of the church's history, decades usually passed between a person's death and the beginning of a push for their canonization. From 1588 to 1978, the average time span between a person's death and sainthood was 262 years, according to Rachel McCleary, a researcher at Harvard University. That dropped to just over 100 years during the last three papacies, in part because John Paul II shortened the waiting period to begin a cause for sainthood, as the process is known, to five years after a person's death. Even that can be waived. At John Paul II's 2005 funeral, which hundreds of thousands attended, banners and cheers rose from the mourners saying, 'Santo, subito,' or 'Sainthood now.' His successor, Benedict XVI, waived the waiting period, allowing John Paul to be canonized nine years after his death. After a Vatican report published in 2020 found that John Paul may have ignored accusations of sexual abuse against the disgraced former prelate Theodore E. McCarrick, critics wondered whether he the pontiff been made a saint too soon.
