[vc_row type=”vc_default”][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are many ways to define holiness. One of them is to regard holiness as an example of human beauty, or rather, the ultimate example. This has been done by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints since 1969, the year of its establishment – by examining the lives of candidates for sainthood, searching for the Gospel in their lives, so that every Christian may see them as trustworthy witnesses who, most importantly, imitate Christ. Behind the canonization of someone lies a careful, collective commitment that takes years, sometimes decades. The complex process requires the participation of people with various competencies. This commitment is not merely conducting research or compiling a biography about a single candidate; the process is demanding and time-consuming.
Also, in the small Catholic Church of Estonia, a canonization is taking place – the process of the Servant of God Eduard Profittlich, the martyr bishop. More precisely, it would be accurate to say that a beatification is taking place, because beatification is the first stage of the canonization process. But what is beatification and how does the Congregation for the Causes of Saints work, Cardinal Prefect Marcelle Semeraro explains to Vatican News.
Q: The Lord addresses the call to holiness “to all the faithful of Christ, whatever their rank or status” (Lumen gentium). And yet, the Church has felt the need from the very beginning to recognize exemplary witnesses and “officially” approve their fidelity to the Gospel message. What role does the Congregation for the Causes of Saints play in this process?
As the Second Vatican Council reminded us, holiness is certainly a universal vocation for every person. Regarding the official recognition of the holiness of a Christian individual, we speak of a long tradition. In fact, already early on, when news spread of some martyr or someone who had lived an exemplary life according to the Gospel, they were proposed as models for everyone’s life and as intercessors before God for the needs of the faithful. Various canonical procedures and rules govern canonization. But the main emphasis is this: The Church has always believed that its members can achieve holiness and that they must be known and proposed for public veneration.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints follows the procedure for the beatification and canonization of Servants of God, assisting bishops in the investigative process concerning the martyrdom, offering of life, and miracles of a faithful Catholic – who, during their life, at the time of death, and after death, was considered holy either due to martyrdom or the offering of their life. These faithful Catholics, whose causes for beatification and canonization have been initiated, are called Servants of God. In any case, a genuine, widespread, and lasting “reputation for holiness” is always required, or that the Christian community unanimously believes that they lived an upright life, that they practiced Christian virtue, and that their life had been fruitful.
Q: Your work truly requires “teamwork,” including the participation of postulators, witnesses, consultants, theologians, academics, doctors, cardinals, bishops. How many people are involved and how is the work structured across the different stages?
The new norms regulating the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, introduced in 1983, greatly shortened the time required for the beatification and canonization process. It suffices to recall, for example, that previously it was necessary to wait 50 years after the death of the Servant of God before beginning the investigation into their life, virtues, or martyrdom. Today, this is no longer the case. However, the length of the process depends on many factors: some are intrinsic (the complexity of the person or the historical period in which they lived); others are external (the will, preparation, or availability of the individuals working on each process: postulators, external collaborators, witnesses, etc.).
Each case has its own numbers: in the diocesan phases, there can be several dozen witnesses providing testimonies. A good number of other individuals and specialists are also involved. As for time, each beatification and canonization process has its stages: investigation, taking of testimonies, drafting of the Positio, study conducted by theological consultants and, depending on the cause, historical consultants. Then, time is needed for consultation with medical experts, if a miracle of healing can be investigated. Once all of this is completed and each stage has been positive, it is presented to the Ordinary Session of the Members of the Congregation, i.e., Cardinals and Bishops. When the entire process is completed, the final word belongs to the Pope. The Prefect of the Congregation presents the various cases to him for approval.
There are indeed many cases (currently, there are nearly 1500 ongoing causes in Rome, and more than 600 at the diocesan level). The fact that not all of them are successful demonstrates the seriousness of the process. This does not mean, however, that those who are not proposed for veneration by the faithful were not exemplary individuals due to their witness of life.
Q: The large number of beatifications and canonizations promoted by the Congregation shows the vitality of the Church in every age. On average, how many ongoing cases are brought to completion?
The results of the last five decades, during which the Congregation has operated, are not only positive but surprising. The simplification of the process has made it possible to increase the number of people offered for veneration by the faithful. They come from every continent and belong to all categories of God’s people.
The spiritual and profound benefits of these fifty years since the founding of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (1969) are unique: as of the end of 2020, there have been a total of 3003 beatifications and 1479 canonizations. Normally, two ordinary sessions are held monthly, and four cases are examined at each session. Therefore, the approximate number of cases concluded annually is between 80 and 90. These and other data can be accessed by visiting the Congregation’s website, which offers everyone easy and complete access to all information concerning the Congregation and the canonization process. To date, in addition to basic documents and publications, the site contains over a thousand entries about the blessed and saints of the last seven pontificates, enriched with images, quotes, biographies, homilies, external links, and multimedia materials.
Q: Can you briefly explain the rigor in the ‘saints factory’ that is followed in the process of beatification and canonization of a candidate?
This expression (saints factory) could even work if understood in a positive sense; it is a place where people work to arrive at a serious and honest presentation of individuals worthy of being offered as examples of holiness. Although the number of candidates is significant, it is nevertheless important to add that this does not compromise the Congregation’s accuracy, thoroughness, and authority.
Beginning with the ‘reputation for sanctity’ perceived by the People of God, the diocesan inquiry undergoes its first stage (the process is open, testimonies and documents are collected, a tribunal is formed with theological and historical experts). When the case reaches Rome, a relator is appointed to guide the postulator in preparing the Positio, in which the evidence gathered in the diocese is synthesized to accurately reconstruct the life of the Servants of God and demonstrate their virtues or martyrdom, as well as their reputation for sanctity and signs of holiness, which will then be examined by a group of theologians and, in the case of an ‘ancient case’ (for a candidate who lived long ago and has no direct witnesses), even by a historical commission.
If their votes are positive, the dossier is submitted to the Congregation for the further decision of the Cardinals and Bishops. If the dossier receives approval, the Holy Father can authorize the promulgation of a decree on the heroic virtues or martyrdom or the offering of life of the Servant of God, who will then be beatified.
Beatification is an intermediate step towards canonization. If the candidate is declared to have suffered martyrdom, they are immediately beatified; otherwise, recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God is required. Generally, this miraculous event is a healing considered scientifically inexplicable and evaluated by a medical commission composed of specialists, both believers and non-believers. First, theological consultants also express their opinion on these miracles, and then the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation, and the Holy Father grants permission with the appropriate decree.
For canonization, that is, for a person to be declared a saint, a second miracle, which occurred after beatification, must be attributed to the efficacious intercession of the blessed.
The Congregation is therefore more than a “factory” that constantly produces saints; it is a department of the Roman Curia, specializing in the recognition of saints with centuries of experience, and with great diligence, expertise, and scientific rigor, it carries forward the process that verifies whether a member of the faithful lived at a high degree of holiness, so that they can be offered as an example to the universal Church.
Q: In the Apostolic Exhortation *Gaudete et exsultate*, the Pope speaks of the “middle class of holiness” and “saints next door”. How can saints be recognized and presented as an example to the community of the faithful?
*Gaudete et exsultate* is a beautiful manifest on the call to holiness in today’s world, because saints show us ways to live according to the Gospel, not only those who have already been beatified or canonized, but also those whom the Pope himself calls “saints next door”, who live close to us and are “reflections of God’s presence”: “parents who raise their children with immense love, men and women who work hard to support their families, the sick, elderly believers who never lose their smile” (No. 7) in a world that no longer knows how to hope and is indifferent to the suffering of others.
For the Church, the proof of holiness lies precisely in the small actions performed every day. The holiness of the “saints next door” is how Christians live every day, who feel Jesus’ love in every corner of the world and risk their lives, never considering their own special interests.
Saints become the most successful and beautiful role models for humanity. In the Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, the Pope wrote that holiness shows ‘the most beautiful face of the Church’ (no. 9). We can also state that in recent decades, the veneration of saints has again become a significant part of the Church’s life, which recognized the need for their witness for the community of believers. The ‘contemporaneity’ of saints stems not so much from their chronological proximity – even if there are many completed or ongoing beatifications or canonizations – as it is due to the person who was complete, passionate humanly and Christianly, desired the supernatural, hungered for justice, the love of God, and solidarity with all brothers and sisters.
Q: With the new norms introduced in 2016, Pope Francis recommended vigilance regarding the administration of goods and limiting costs for cases. There is also a ‘solidarity fund’ for cases where there were difficulties in covering costs. How did the Pope’s indications affect your ‘mission budget’?
In many aspects, beatification is a complex and detailed process. It entails certain costs related to the work of commissions, printing of documents, meetings of experts (history and theology experts whose task is to examine documents, or doctors in cases of miracles). The Department is always attentive to limiting costs so that the economic factor does not become an obstacle to the progress of a case. In this sense, the administrative norms approved by the Holy Father in 2016 ensure transparent and orderly administration. The Solidarity Fund, managed by the Congregation, was created for cases with fewer resources and is financed in various ways. Other possibilities for supporting them are being explored.
Q: In Bauman’s supposed ‘liquid’ society, holiness always seems to be a choice that goes against the current. What are the new challenges the Congregation faces in order to once again propose the attractiveness of evangelical radicalism?
We live in this ‘liquid society,’ aware of the opportunities, but also of the risks. For the Church, these traps for faith and the credibility of Christianity are not new. Christians of the second century already had to face objections against their faith in Jesus the Messiah; the same thing had already appeared during his public life, as Saint Justin reported in the Dialogue with Trypho: ‘But how is it possible that the Messiah has already come if things have not changed, if peace has not yet been established, if Israel is still enslaved by the Romans, if the world is the same as it was before?’ Christians replied: ‘It is true, yes, many things are as they were before; they have not changed. But if you truly wish to look at reality, you can also notice new, wonderfully extraordinary things, such as the fraternity of Christians, the sharing of goods, faith, their courage under persecution, joy in tribulation. You will see wonderful things. Certainly, the Kingdom of God has not yet come in its final fullness. It has come in the form of seeds, but it has truly come and is growing, it is developing within the Christian community.’ According to the Gospel parable, the saints are truly ripe seeds that bear much fruit.
In principle, holiness is always the same, but it is also new in specific individuals, as the Second Vatican Council reminded us (Lumen gentium, 41). It takes on different expressions in martyrs, consecrated virgins, hermits, monks, pastors of the Church, leaders of nations, mendicant orders, missionaries, thinkers, educators, saints of social charity. It is enough to scan the list of saints from these last fifty years since the establishment of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to see how many seeds have ripened from the council, which had drawn attention to the fact that holiness is a universal call and not the privilege of a select few. There is one holiness that reflects Christ, who leaves a unique and personal mark on every person. It is like love: extremely unique and personal.
As for the challenges, these are the same for the Congregation as for the Church and her presence in the world. The Church is an instrument of faith due to the objective holiness of faith, sacraments, charisms, and the subjective holiness of Christians. This is affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed: ‘I believe… in the communion of saints,’ which means the communion of means of holiness and of holy men and women. Every saint promotes the growth and unity of the entire body of the Church. Every saint is aware that their task is the mission of the Church. Saints are complete persons; they lived with human and Christian passion, with great human and Christian passion; they yearned for the supernatural, they hungered for justice, for the love of God, and for solidarity with every brother or sister. Christians intuitively perceive the trustworthiness of faith in Jesus Christ, referring both to His biographical events and to His continuous presence in the Church, especially in the saints.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]