Thursday, October 25, 2012

Becoming a Saint


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 through the Vatican Information Services had made public the following note in the current beatification and canonization procedures in September 12, 1997.

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. With canonization, the Blessed acquires the title Saint.

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.


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