Last October 21, 2012 new Saints
were declared by the Pope Benedict XVI and with this, another Filipino is now a
Saint. St. Pedro Calungsod is the 2nd Filipino saint in which he was
originated in Cebu but have you questioned
yourself on what is the process of becoming a saint? How saints become saint?
But one thing is for sure, the Church does not create saints.
 |
| St. Pedro Calungsod |
Canonization is the certified process
of declaring an individual a saint
but before the year 1234, the Church
doesn’t have a formal process as what we have today. The martyrs and others who
recognize as holy were declared by saints after their death.
In 1234, a
procedure was established to investigate the life of a candidate and any
miracles he/she attributed before he/she will be declared as saint. In 1588, a
council was entrusted to the entire process of canonization and it is called
the Congregation of Rites but now
called as the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints and in the beginning of the year 1634, various Popes had
revised by process.
The Holy See Press Office in Vatican
City
The current
canonization process is enclose in the Divinus
Perfectionist Magister in which was contained in the Apostolic Constitution
contains the process and procedures which should be followed. This was
promulgated by Pope John Paul II on January 25, 1983.
The Process
1. It is necessary that the candidate
should have passed at least 5 years to begin the cause. This is required so
that the emotions will be dissipated and a bigger balance and neutrality would
be achieved in evaluating the case.
2. The
responsible for the opening of the investigation is the bishop of the diocese.
The diocese, parish, religious congregation or association which is also called
the promoter group will ask the
bishop for the opening of the investigation and once the nulla osta (no
impediment) of the Holy See will be obtained, diocesan tribunal will be formed
for this purpose.
At this state,
all witnesses are called before the tribunal to detail all concrete facts to
support the exercise of Christian virtues which is considered as heroic by the
candidate. The virtues are ‘theological’ and ‘cardinal’ and all the data and
documents collated pertaining to the candidate should be gathered. At this
point, the candidate will receive the title Servant of God.
3. When the
investigation is finish, the documents will be submitted to the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints for evaluation. The Positio will undergo a theological examination by the nine
theologians who will giver their votes. If majority wins, the cause will be
passed to the cardinals and bishop for the examination which is also members of
the congregation. They will hold 2 meeting in a month and if their judgment is
affirmative, the results of the entire process will be presented by the Holy
Father which approves to draft the virtual decree. The public reading and
promulgation of the verdict follows.
4. In beatification,
a miracle attributed to the Servant of God should be verified after his/her
death is very necessary. It must be proven through the appropriate canonical
investigation. The Holy Father will decide on beatification is the 2 decrees
are promulgated which regards the heroic virtues and miracles of the candidate.
In this stage, the candidate will receive the title Blessed.
5. In
canonization, another miracle is again needed which should be occurred after
his/her beatification. To affirm the miracles, the same procedures are as
followed for beatification. In this stage, canonization is understood as the
recognition of public worship in the Universal
Church
The long process
for becoming a saint sometimes takes a decade, luckily for those who only take
5 or several years. For instance, Sister Teresa when she was a candidate was
directly jump in the canonization stage because her supporters pushed Vatican
to waive the 5 year rule and late in 1999, the Pope relinquish the 5-year rule
and allowed Mother Teresa to begin in the canonization process.
The Catholic
Churh had already canonized 3000 people and still counting. Some of are still
on process for beatification or canonization and 1 thing is sure, being a Saint
is not an award, it is a blessing which denotes that you are in heaven with the
Creator. The saints that we today pray for deserves in their position. Saints
are there for us to follow what they did when they was still walking in this
land, we should emulate their heroic deeds and promulgate love, peace, happiness
and charity and hope.
Reference:
