The Making of Saints

In the What is the True Meaning of Christmas thread in "Let's Talk Religion", in the midst of a discussion of the merits of the sacrifice of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Tim carefully explained the reason for all of the hoops and requirements of canonization (including the two miracles by intercession), together with his own doubts that such a process need always be so strictly followed.

JTF seconded:

I think many Catholics would agree with you, Tim, that the miracle thing is a bit superfluous and maybe the process of canonisation needs a bit of aggiornamento. But as you say, there has to be a process for the public, official proclamation of a saint, and as you also say, there are plenty of non-official saints that we can look to.

It occurs to me wonder that we are perhaps seeing signs of the process loosening up, but more in the direction of a ressourcement of the older path to canonization, of the acclamation of sanctity as an expression of the sensus fidelium, as a path equal to or even ahead of the juridical process that had become standard.

We all remember, of course, the cries of "Santo subito!" that filled St. Peter's Square upon John Paul II's death -- cries which were but one sign of the overwhelming popular sentiment that likely prompted Benedict to dispense with the nominal waiting period before his cause could commence.

Benedict then invoked the procedures of "equivalent canonization" to raise Hildegard of Bingen to the altar in 2011, an intermediary step to later proclaiming her the fourth female Doctor of the Church.

In less than a year in office, meanwhile, Francis has exercised his papal prerogative to bypass the standard procedures at least twice, first to greenlight John XXIII for elevation next year; and earlier this month, to use the aforementioned equivalent canonization to make the Ignatian companion Peter Faber a saint.

Do you think these acts are evidence of change afoot -- or am I just trying to read too much into the tea leaves?

I hope I'm not throwing a spanner in the works, but I would add that unless your proposed saint is one of the fast-track ones, it takes a huge amount of resources, both human and financial, to get someone canonised. I know of religious orders who have spent a lot of money getting their founder canonised. It takes years (or even decades) of painstaking research, lobbying within the Vatican, specialist advocates, etc.

In general, the church has gone into saint-making overdrive at the same time as saints have become less and less important to ordinary Catholics, at least in the west. It's a bit of a paradox.

The fastest nun in the West

Sister Blandina Segale: A Cincinnati Saint (?)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LxbVEMZpJ3M

Her letters to her sister were published as At the End of the Santa Fe Trail

A married couple with seven children to be beatified by the Catholic Church for martyrdom by Nazis (CNA)

Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of a married couple with seven children who were killed by the Nazis for hiding a Jewish family in their home in Poland. The pope signed on Dec. 17 a decree on the martyrdom of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, who were executed along with all their children in 1944. The World Holocaust Remembrance Center has honored the couple as Righteous Among the Nations for the sacrifice of their lives. With the recognition of their martyrdom by the pope, the Polish couple can now be beatified with the couple’s seven children (including one unborn).

Early on March 24, 1944, a Nazi patrol surrounded the home of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma on the outskirts of the village of Markowa in southeast Poland. They discovered eight Jewish people who had found refuge on the Ulma farm and executed them. The Nazi police then killed Wiktoria, who was seven months pregnant, and Józef. As children began to scream at the sight of their murdered parents, the Nazis shot them too: Stanisława, age 8, Barbara, 7, Władysław, 6, Franciszek, 4, Antoni, 3, and Maria, 2.

Pope Francis signed the decree on their martyrdom on his 86th birthday, advancing 15 other causes for canonization, including recognizing the heroic virtue of Matteo Ricci, a well-known 17th-century Jesuit missionary in China. The pope also approved the “offering of life” of Franz de Castro Holzwarth, a Brazilian lawyer who was killed at the age of 38 in 1981 when he offered to replace a hostage during a prison riot. He also recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Jacinto Vera, the first bishop of Montevideo, Uruguay. In the decree, Pope Francis confirmed the heroic virtue of 13 Servants of God... four Catholic priests and one brother were recognized as Venerable...

What queer theory taught me about the saints (NCR)

There is an unofficial canon of queer Catholic saints. Those who know it, know it. These are historical, canonical, Vatican-approved Catholic saints — saints that our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and ancestors in faith have prayed to for centuries — that in the past 50 years or so have been unofficially but popularly labeled as "queer"...

In my own country, the 12th century Cistercian monk Aelred of Rievaulx has been widely venerated as a saint by Catholics and Anglicans since at least the 15th century, and has long been thought to have been homosexual. His writings on spirituality have been a great resource for spiritual directors, particularly his book De spiritali amicitia (On Spiritual Friendship).

Meet the six newest venerable servants of God in the Catholic Church (CNA)

Pope Francis declared six Catholics as venerable servants of God on Thursday, moving them each one step closer to canonization. In a decree signed on Jan. 19, the pope recognized the heroic virtue of an Italian stigmatic, four 20th-century priests, and a holy laywoman who spent much of her life in a sickbed...

A surfing saint? Pope Francis recognizes the heroic virtue of Guido Schäffer (CNA)

The Catholic Church is one step closer to canonizing a surfing saint. Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtue of Brazil’s “Surfer Angel” Guido Schäffer in a decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Saturday. Schäffer was a seminarian, a doctor, and a surfer who drowned while surfing in 2009 off the coast of Rio de Janeiro at the age of 34 before he could fulfill his desire of being ordained to the priesthood. The Brazilian seminarian, known locally as the “Anjo Surfista” or “Surfer Angel,” used to begin each of his surfing lessons with a prayer and was known for his work with the poor, providing medical care to Rio’s “favelas” (poor, working-class neighborhoods) alongside the Missionaries of Charity. With the decree, Pope Francis declared Schäffer “venerable”...

“A great joy for the Church”: Catholic Bishop on “Baba Simon”, Cameroon’s First Venerable (ACI Africa)

The recognition of the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Simon Mpeke, popularly known as Baba Simon, who becomes Cameroon’s first Venerable, is a “great joy for the Church” in the Central African nation, the Local Ordinary of Edéa, Baba Simon’s Diocese of origin, has said. On May 20, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the Decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Simon Mpeke alongside eight others.. Born in 1906 in Batombé in Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Edéa, Baba Simon was ordained a Priest in December 1935. He gained recognition in the Central African nation and beyond for his missionary work with the Kirdis, a marginalized and often persecuted community in the far North of the country. Upon reading an article about the existence of this vulnerable population, Fr. Mpeke felt an inner calling to evangelize and support them. From 1959 until his passing on in August 1975, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to this noble cause...

The provocations of Dorothy Day and a revolution of the heart (Tablet)

When Dorothy died people wondered if the Catholic Worker movement would survive her passing. The CW is celebrating its ninetieth anniversary this year – I think that question can be laid to rest. A better question to ask now is: What is she still teaching us? I have –daringly – identified nine major teachings, which I have referred to as consolations, lamentations or ruinations, but most commonly “provocations”. These are not rules or step-by-step instructions. They are more akin to adding ingredients to a soup, or a weaving of intertwining threads, and I may be doing a disservice by putting them in some kind of order. I can’t claim to know much about each provocation, and I have many more questions than answers. Dorothy spoke of the mystery of our freedom – one of the greatest gifts God gave us, she said. She also said that we struggle against both freedom and responsibility, and we always will. There is no point in telling people what to do. It has to be a revolution from within, a revolution of the heart...

Dorothy’s life, her work and words can be utterly uncomfortable. Pick any element of the Catholic Worker programme and ­philosophy, and you might find yourself running for the hills. Opening houses of hospitality in which nothing is asked of those who are given refuge, whether the “deserving” or “undeserving” poor. Her stance on non-violence can provoke people into anger, and her insistence on voluntary poverty cuts at the very roots of our society and most of what we strive for. She was an “obedient daughter of the Church” and yet challenged and chastised the bishops when she saw need. She insisted on always responding to the here and now in practical terms, emphasising personal responsibility and not resting in ideology. All the Catholic Worker beliefs are expressions of the deep trust in the Gospels, a deep trust in Christ against all reason. Such trust can be deeply unsettling and uncomfortable. Dorothy rarely felt comfortable...

These nine "provocations" identified by Dorothy Day's granddaughter Kate Hennessy will appear week by week in the Tablet. I may not get round to posting all nine of them, but you can read them online in the Tablet. You need to register to read it, but it's free registration.

Mother Mary Lange, founder of first African American religious congregation, declared venerable (CNA)

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, a Black religious sister who founded the country’s first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829... Elizabeth Lange, as she was named, immigrated to the United States from Cuba in the early 1800s. Recognizing the lack of education for the children of her fellow Black immigrants, with a friend she established St. Frances Academy in her own home and with her own money to offer free schooling to Baltimore’s African American children. With the support of Baltimore Archbishop James Whitfield, she founded a school for “girls of color” and then the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious community for women of African descent...

Pope Francis advances the sainthood cause of Fatima’s Sister Lucia (CNA)

Pope Francis has advanced the sainthood cause of Sister Lucia dos Santos, the eldest child to witness the Fatima apparitions. In a decree signed on June 22, the pope recognized Lucia’s heroic virtue and declared her “venerable.” The Church will now need to approve a miracle attributed to her intercession before she can be beatified. Pope Francis already canonized the two other Fatima visionaries, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, in 2017. The two shepherd children, who died at 10 and 11 respectively, are the youngest non-martyr saints in the Church’s history. Lucia, who was 10 years old at the time of the 1917 Marian apparitions, outlived the other visionaries by decades, surviving until age 97...

Pope Francis asks Church to identify 21st-century martyrs slain ‘only because they are Christians’ (AP)

Pope Francis has set up a special commission tasked with identifying those he calls the “new martyrs” of the 21st century — Christians who have been slain in some cases simply for attending Mass or for helping the poor... "As I have said so many times, martyrs ‘are more numerous in our time than in the first centuries,’'' of the Church, Francis wrote... Modern-time martyrs include clergy as well as “lay people and families, who, in various countries of the world, with the gift of their life, offered the supreme proof of charity"... At the pope’s direction, the commission’s members will research cases of non-Catholic Christian martyrs, too. The commission is tasked with “working up a catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to acknowledge Christ and to give witness to His Gospel,’' Francis wrote in his letter. ”The martyrs of the Church are witnesses to the hope that derives from faith in Christ and inspires true charity,’' he said. Francis is building on a drive started by St. John Paul II to give rank-and-file faithful more recent role models among the saints...

The mention of non-Catholic Christian martyrs would certainly be meaningful in Uganda, where the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs are remembered together, but also in Britain where Anglicans and Catholics share many of the same saints.

Pope: Ulma family a ‘symbol of values that must not be betrayed’ (Vatican News)

As the beatification of the Ulma family approaches on 10 September, Pope Francis upholds their collective witness of faith in giving their lives to save Jews during World War II...

Vatican beatifies Polish family executed by Nazis for sheltering Jews (Guardian)

The Vatican has beatified a Polish family of nine – a married couple and their small children – who were executed by the Nazis during the second world war for sheltering Jews... the Ulmas “paid the highest price of martyrdom”... Last year, Francis pronounced the strictly Catholic Ulma family, including the child that Wiktoria Ulma was pregnant with, martyrs for the faith. The Ulmas were killed at home by German Nazi troops and by Nazi-controlled local police in the small hours of 24 March 1944, together with the eight Jews they were hiding at their home, after they were apparently betrayed. Jozef Ulma, 44, was a farmer, Catholic activist and amateur photographer who documented family and village life. He lived with Wiktoria, 31, and their daughters Stanislawa, seven, Barbara, six, Maria, 18 months, and sons Wladyslaw, five, Franciszek, three, and Antoni, two. Killed with them were 70-year-old Saul Goldman and his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Mojzesz, along with Golda Grunfeld and her sister Lea Didner with her young daughter Reszla...

Tanzanian Archdiocese Seeks Information for First President’s Canonization (ACI Africa)

The Catholic Church in Tanzania is seeking information about the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of God Julius Kambarage Nyerere to proceed with his cause of beatification and canonization. Pope Benedict XVI declared Tanzania’s first president Servant of God on 13 May 2005. In an edict shared with ACI Africa Tuesday, November 15 Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar-es-Salaam invited Tanzanians to send information, “both favorable and unfavorable” to the body tasked with overseeing the course of the Servant of God Nyerere. “We invite all the faithful to communicate to us directly or to send to the Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam, any information - both favorable or unfavorable - regarding the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of God as a Catholic lay faithful and father of a family, as well as his reputation for holiness and intercessory power,” Archbishop Ruwa’ichi said...

Pope Francis to preside over canonization Mass of Argentina’s first female saint (CNA)

Pope Francis next month will preside over the canonization Mass of the woman set to become Argentina’s first female saint, the Vatican said this week. The pope will preside over the Mass for Blessed María Antonia of St. Joseph on Feb. 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica... María Antonia was proclaimed “Venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and was later beatified by Pope Francis in 2016...

An interesting reflection by Buddhist teacher Lama Rod Owens..

Becoming a New Saint

New Saint is a contemporary expression of an ancient Buddhist tradition that understands the saint as a bodhisattva. Bodhisattva is roughly translated as “spiritual warrior” and is one who is motivated by the energy of bodhicitta, or a profound altruistic wish to free all beings from suffering. I feel that the world is desperate for a reframing of this tradition that is contemporary, direct, simple, and accessible to all folks, especially those who do not identify as Buddhist.

Saints are people from various spiritual and religious traditions who have deeply embodied love and compassion and whose embodiment has inspired countless others to aspire to that same practice. However, for most of us, sainthood seems a lofty and vague endeavor that is more divine and religious than practical. This current era is calling for saints—New Saints—who are from this time and place, who speak the language of this time and place, and, most importantly, who embrace the integration of both social and ultimate liberation. New Saints can surrender into the Divine or spiritual while disrupting systems of violence. I believe that we all can and must become New Saints for ourselves and our communities...

The New Saint’s end goal is liberation for themselves, all beings, and all phenomena. Everything must be freed. The cultivation and unification of clarity, love, compassion, and joy point the New Saint toward freedom….

When I say “freedom” or “liberation,” I am talking about our fundamental capacity to choose responsiveness over reactivity. Experiencing the sensations of our minds and bodies reduces reactivity and allows us to experience fluidity. When there is more fluidity, there is more potential for care, and that care helps us to reduce violence against ourselves and others. Freedom is the agency to choose how we want to be in relationship with ourselves and the world around us.…

On the community level, outer freedom means that the community has agency to determine what it needs and has access to what it needs. Individuals are held, loved, and given space to meet their needs within and with the support of the community. It means being able to live in harmony with other communities and not feeling dominant or feeling the need to dominate. There is room for cooperation and understanding...

In the end, we must understand that our feelings about freedom have nothing to do with freedom. Freedom isn’t a feeling; it is as much a state of being and experiencing as joy. To be free is to remember that I have always been free. The real labor of liberation is acknowledging that there is always a choice, even though I must work to get back to that choice.

Pope clears way for 'God's influencer' to become a saint (BBC)

A London-born teenager - whose proficiency at spreading the teachings of the Catholic church online led to him being called "God's influencer" - is set to become a saint. Carlo Acutis died in 2006, at the age of 15, meaning he would be the first millennial - a person born in the early 1980s to late 1990s - to be canonised. It follows Pope Francis attributing a second miracle to him. It involved the healing of university student in Florence who had bleeding on the brain after suffering head trauma. Carlo Acutis had been beatified - the first step towards sainthood - in 2020, after he was attributed with his first miracle - healing a Brazilian child of a congenital disease affecting his pancreas. The second miracle was approved by the Pope following a meeting with the Vatican's saint-making department. It is not yet known when he will be canonised. Carlo Acutis died in Monza, in Italy, after being diagnosed with leukaemia, having spent much of his childhood in the country...

Nigerian Teen on Path to Beatification, Canonization “exhibited an extraordinary depth of spirituality”: Catholic Bishop (ACI Africa)

Vivian Uchechi Ogu, the 14-year-old Nigerian girl, who opted to be killed rather than be sexually defiled manifested a deep spirituality, Bishop Simeon Okezuo Nwobi has said... Last October, the Nigerian Catholic Archdiocese issued an edict on the cause of Beatification and Canonization of Vivian...

Italian teenager Carlo Acutis’ upcoming canonization reflects the Vatican’s desire to appeal to a new generation of Catholics (The Conversation)

Described by the bishop of Assisi as an “ordinary” teenager with extraordinary faith, Acutis’ upcoming canonization reflects the Vatican’s interest in making a more modern church that appeals to a new generation of faithful...

Pope pays tribute to Dom Guéranger, a pioneer of modern liturgical revival (Vatican News)

Pope Francis has addressed a message to the French Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes, as they mark the 150th anniversary of the death of their founder, Abbot Prosper-Louis-Pascal Guéranger (1805-1875), who restored Benedictine monasticism in France in the 19th century and pioneered the modern liturgical revival... Dom Guéranger is regarded as a forerunner of what became known as the modern liturgical movement in the 20th century... the Pope acknowledges Dom Guéranger’s significant role in the Liturgical Movement, which ultimately contributed to the Second Vatican Council’s Sacrosanctum Concilium Constitution, that led to the reform of the Roman liturgy, praising the way Dom Guéranger sought to rediscover the liturgy as the language of the Church and an expression of its faith. This rediscovery led him to advocate for a return to the unity of the Roman liturgy in France and inspired his extensive writings, particularly The Liturgical Year, which aimed to make the beauty and richness of the liturgy accessible to all. Quoting Dom Guéranger’s belief that “the prayer of the Church is the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God,” Pope Francis expresses his hope that the Benedictine Abott’s example may inspire a renewed love for the Church’s liturgical tradition and a deeper unity with the Successor of Peter (cum Petro et sub Petro)...

How 'trailblazer' nun St Brigid continues to fascinate (BBC)

St Brigid's Day - today, Saturday 1 February - is traditionally marked by Catholic religious commemorations but recent years have seen a surge in interest for all things Brigid-themed. The decision to introduce an Irish bank holiday to mark the day has helped spark a renewed interest in her legacy across the island, while thousands have been flocking to locations that claim links to the 5th Century nun. One of those is in County Kildare, where St Brigid is credited with founding a monastery that became one of the most powerful sites in early Christian Ireland. No mean feat for an early medieval woman in a country some consider to still be struggling with female representation in public life. "Brigid is such a trailblazer; she really was a woman ahead of her time"...

Pope Francis decrees that the liturgical feast of Mother Teresa of Calcutta be added to the Church’s universal calendar (Zenit)

Pope Francis decided to place the liturgical memory of Mother Teresa of Calcutta in the official liturgical calendar of the entire Catholic Church. This means that Catholics around the world will now have the option to celebrate her memory in the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours every year on September 5—the day of her passing in 1997. The announcement, made by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, reflects the continued resonance of Mother Teresa’s mission of mercy. The decree, signed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, acknowledges the countless requests from bishops, priests, religious communities, and lay faithful who sought a formal place for her commemoration in the Church’s liturgical life. Although she was canonized in 2016, many still call her simply «Mother Teresa,» a title that speaks to the deep personal connection people feel toward her...

How to Be a Saint by Kate Sidley

This book is completely hilarious, mildly offensive and somewhat sacrilegious. However, it was a fun read that would appeal to those readers who were raised on stories of the saints. I laughed out loud while reading this book. The chapters include the canonization process and stories of the saints, as well as a checklist to guide readers along the path to sainthood.

If you are easily offended, this is probably not the book for you. However, as a cradle Catholic and having attended Catholic schools K-12, this was a walk down memory lane as I remembered the stories the nuns told us about the saints--the more weird and gruesome, the better! I have been a fan of reading about lives of the saints my whole life, so I had some fun with this book.

I was introduced to Saint Maximillian Kolbe yesterday on Instagram.

It was his feast day, as well he is a patron of political prisoners, having substituted himself for a younger man chosen to be put to death at Auschwitz.

I’m sorting religion books today. I opened one to a random page, and there he was again.
When those coincidences happen, I take them as a personal sign. My prayers are better directed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe

>25 2wonderY:

One of my favourite saints.

Young people gather to celebrate canonisation of first millennial saint (BBC)

Hundreds of young people have gathered in Londonderry to celebrate the canonisation of a teenager nicknamed "God's influencer". Carlo Acutis, who died of leukaemia in 2006 at the age of 15, is the first millennial - a person born in the early 1980s to late 1990s - to be made a saint by the Catholic church. The London-born teenager has also been labelled "the patron saint of the internet" for his work recording miracles online and running websites for Catholic organisations. Events celebrating his canonisation took place across the world today, including in St Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry...

>27 John5918: My pewmate leaned over to me on Sunday and excitedly filled me in on both new saints. I was charmed.

>24 LadyoftheLodge: Ha! Who knew I’d find it on Libby - and as an audiobook.

50 Catholics martyred by the Nazis beatified in France (Vatican News)

On Saturday, 13 December, two Masses were celebrated respectively in the Cathedral of Jaen in Spain and at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for the beatification of Venerable Servants of God, men and women who gave their lives to remain faithful to Christ in times of persecution. In the first instance, 124 martyrs of the Spanish Civil War were beatified in a celebration presided over by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. As the Jaen Diocese itself recalls, these people made the ultimate sacrifice "for the love of Christ", and their example continues today to encourage the faith of the whole community... "In a violent and aggressive world, with a lack of respect for ideologies and beliefs, the 124 {Servants of God} made a difference by affirming that violence is not the solution; the answer comes from forgiveness, and this is the lesson that the Gospel gives us. The world needs goodness"... Later on Saturday, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, presided at the Mass of beatification of Raymond Cayré, diocesan priest; Gérard-Martin Cendrier, religious of the Order of Friars Minor; Roger Vallée, seminarian; Jean Mestre, layman, and 46 of their companions... The majority of these Catholics came from the Young Christian Workers (JOC) and died primarily in concentration camps where they had been sent because of their apostolate, an activity prohibited by the Hitler regime. They were part of the "Mission Saint Paul", a form of clandestine chaplaincy set up by French bishops to provide spiritual assistance to young people requisitioned for the Compulsory Labor Service... Many priests, religious and lay people belonging to Catholic associations covertly followed French workers sent to German territory to provide them with moral and spiritual support. As a result, they were arrested for subversive activity against the Third Reich, tortured and put to death mainly in the concentration camps of Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Dachau or Neuengamme...

A rather incomplete headline as in fact 124 martyrs from the Spanish Civil War were beatified as well as the fifty from France.

Fr John Dear has a podcast here with Robert Ellsberg, author of many books including his latest, Blessed Among Us Volume 2, a massive collection of writings with two legendary saints for each day of the year, recently published by Liturgical Press. He writes: “Even in the case of official saints, we should not make the mistake of believing them to be flawless. Not everything a saint says is completely faithful to the Gospel; not everything he or she does is authentic or perfect. What we need to contemplate is the totality of their life, their entire journey of growth in holiness, the reflection of Jesus Christ that emerges when we grasp their overall meaning as a person.”

Transgender saints?

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZThhR272v/

Vatican sets beatification for Vietnamese priest long believed slain by communists (NCR)

The Vatican has approved July 2 as the beatification date for Fr. Francis Xavier Truong Buu Diep, a Vietnamese priest killed in the violent aftermath of World War II — a decision local people say not only honors a revered pastor but also corrects a decades-old historical misunderstanding... Diep is set to become the first 20th-century Vietnamese martyr officially on the path to sainthood — a landmark moment for the local church, where memories of war, colonialism and ideological conflict continue to shape religious life and church-state relations... On March 12, 1946, Diep was killed at Tac Say. For nearly eight decades, the circumstances of his death were clouded by rumor, with many Catholics believing he had been murdered by communist forces — an assumption reinforced by Vietnam's long history of conflict and persecution. A Can Tho Diocese investigation has now officially rejected that narrative. The 63-page investigation, conducted between 2011 and 2017 and released publicly in November, concluded that Diep was killed by two Japanese deserters seeking revenge after Japan's defeat in World War II. The findings were reviewed and approved by the Holy See... According to sworn testimony from 23 witnesses — including 13 with firsthand knowledge — the two Japanese soldiers beheaded Diep from behind... "Why did those two Japanese soldiers kill Diep?" he said. "They hated the West because Japan had been defeated by the West. They saw Diep as following the Western religion and siding with the West. Because they hated the West, they killed him to take revenge"...

>32 2wonderY:

Thanks. Also see >6 John5918: above.

Pope approves decrees for 2 new Blesseds and 4 Venerables (Vatican News)

Pope Leo XIV approves decrees for the causes of saints and recognizes the martyrdom of Guatemalan Fr. Augusto Rafael Ramírez Monasterio and Mother Maria Ignazia Isacchi, clearing the way for their beatification...

A step towards freedom – Alfred Delp SJ (Tablet)

The beatification process for a Jesuit executed by the Nazis was opened this week. His biographer was reminded of Germany’s tangled history when she met his Lutheran brother...

Two new blesseds: A Lebanese monk and a French Franciscan (Vatican News)

The Pope authorises the beatification of Béchara Abou-Mourad and Gabriele Maria, and recognises the heroic virtues of a Ligurian priest, an Indian Capuchin friar, and a layman from Brescia...

Pope Leo advances six causes for sainthood (Vatican News)

Ludovico Altieri, Bishop of Albano... born on 17 July 1805 in Rome, Italy... Edward Joseph Flanagan, diocesan priest, Founder of Boys Town, born on 13 July 1886 in Ballymoe, Ireland... Henri Caffarel, diocesan priest... born on 30 July 1903 in Lyon, France... Stanisława Samulowska (born Barbara), professed religious... born on 30 January 1865... María of Bethlehem of the Heart of Jesus Romero Algarín (born María Dolores), professed religious... born on 7 October 1916 in Seville, Spain... Giuseppe Castagnetti, lay faithful and father of a family, born on 15 March 1909 in Montebaranzone, Italy...

Illinois-born Archbishop Fulton Sheen receives Vatican's blessing for beatification (abc)

Illinois-born Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who inspired countless conversations, now has the Vatican's blessing to be beatified...

I wonder if they mean "conversions" rather than "conversations"? Or both?

Vatican halts sainthood cause of Jesuit priest, gulag survivor Walter Ciszek (EWTN)

The Vatican has halted the cause for sainthood of Father Walter Ciszek, a Pennsylvania-born Jesuit priest who ministered to fellow prisoners while enduring more than 20 years of imprisonment in Russia... “While this news may understandably bring disappointment to many who have been inspired by Father Ciszek’s example of heroic faith and have prayed for his cause, it does not diminish the enduring spiritual value of his life, witness, and legacy,” Bocian said. This is the second sainthood cause this month that the Vatican has closed. The Vatican also halted the cause of Argentinian bishop and servant of God Jorge Novak earlier this month. The Diocese of Quilmes, Argentina, said the decision expresses “no moral judgment regarding the life, virtues, and pastoral ministry” of the bishop but that it was due to him not carrying out “a possible canonical procedure” as a priest...

Pope recongnizes martyrdom of 49 Spaniards during civil war (Vatican News)

Pope Leo XIV authorizes the promulgation of decrees recognizing the martyrdom, offering of life, and heroic virtues of several Servants of God, advancing their causes for canonization...

Pope Leo XIV advances sainthood causes, including Dutch nun who served in Missouri (OSV)

the pope signed a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Carmelite Sister Teresia of the Most Holy Trinity, born Teresa Ysseldijk, who died from an illness just a little over six years after arriving in the United States... The other decrees approved by Pope Leo recognized:

— The martyrdom of Spanish Father Emanuele Berenguer Clusella, Montfort Brother of St. Gabriel Estanislao Ortega García and 48 companions, killed “in hatred of the faith” in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.

— The offering of life of Spanish missionary Pedro Manual Salado, a lay member of the “Hogar de Nazaret” association, who died in 2012 in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, when he collapsed after rescuing seven children drowning at sea.

— The heroic virtues of Mother Maria Eletta di Gesù, an Italian Discalced Carmelite, who was born in Terni, Italy, in 1605 and died in Prague in what is now known as the Czech Republic in 1663.

— The heroic virtues of Italian Sister Maria Raffaela De Giovanna, founder of the Congregation of the Tertiary Minim Sisters of Saint Francis of Paola. She was born in Genova in 1870 and died there in 1933.

National shrine planned to honor the first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest for the US (OSV)

On April 29, the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, announced plans for a national shrine for Venerable Augustus (Augustine) Tolton (1854-1897), one of the “saintly seven,” referring to the group of African Americans recognized as “servant of God” or “venerable” who have active sainthood causes. The diocese launched a fundraising campaign for the renovation of a long-dormant church on the site where Father Tolton, who was regarded in his day as the first African American priest of the country, celebrated his first Mass in the U.S. after his ordination in Rome in 1886... Father Tolton was born in Brush Creek, Missouri, in 1854 to devout Catholic parents who suffered the injustice of slavery. When he was 9, his mother, Martha Jane Tolton, escaped with her three children across the Mississippi, reaching the safety of Union Army lines, to save them from slave-traders. The family then settled in Quincy. After one month at St. Boniface School where white parents threatened to remove their children, young Augustine (as he sometimes signed his letters) transferred to St. Peter’s Parish where priests (including German Franciscans) and religious sisters happily mentored him and nurtured what they saw was a vocation to the priesthood. However, no U.S. seminary would accept a Black vocation to the priesthood — so his mentors sent him to study in Rome, where he reportedly was very well liked and did not experience any prejudice. Father Tolton was ordained at St. John Lateran Basilica, the pope’s cathedral in Rome, in 1886. He expected to serve as a missionary in Africa, but instead was sent to Quincy, where he became pastor at St. Joseph Church, a mission of St. Boniface Parish. At St. Joseph, Father Tolton ministered to both African Americans and white Americans, many of whom were drawn to him and preferred his preaching to that of St. Boniface’s pastor, one block away. Father Tolton endured bitter opposition from that priest, whom Father Tolton said in a letter “abuses me in many ways.” He successfully sought a transfer to Chicago in 1889, where he served Black Catholics...

Communion and Liberation founder’s sainthood cause heads to Vatican (OSV)

The diocesan phase of Msgr. Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, has officially concluded, with his case now advancing to the Vatican for further study... Msgr. Giussani was born in Desio, a small town north of Milan. Known for his love of literature, he was told by his superiors after his ordination in 1945 to continue his studies. After earning his doctorate in 1954, he taught religion at a high school and later theology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. It was his concern for the disconnection between faith and daily life, as well as the number of young people leaving a youth movement he founded to join the rising Marxist movement, that prompted him to found Communion and Liberation in 1969, which was open to both high school and university students. The movement centered on the conviction that faith is an encounter with Christ that transforms daily life, reflected in authentic Christian witness in culture, work and society...

Cardinal Czerny praises Czech priests martyred for witnessing Christ (Vatican News)

Ahead of the beatification of Czech priests Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, who were martyred under Communist rule, Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, speaks at the 'Blessed Martyrs Under Communism' conference in Rome, noting that their martyrdom 'teaches us that there is no human situation—however degrading or unjust—in which Christ cannot be witnessed'...

South Sudanese Catholic Bishop Announces Plans to Begin Beatification Process of Slain Slovak Missionary (ACI Africa)

Bishop Alex Lodiong Sakor Eyobo of South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Yei has announced plans to begin the beatification process of the late Sr. Veronica Rackova, the Slovak-born member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), who was killed in 2016 while serving in the country. In a video message marking the 10th anniversary of Sr. Veronica’s death, Bishop Lodiong described her as “a martyr” who gave her life in service to the people of South Sudan... The Slovak missionary died at Nairobi Hospital in Kenya on 20 May 2016, after being shot several times by armed soldiers in Yei, South Sudan... A specialist in tropical diseases, Sr. Veronica was returning to her convent after taking a patient to Harvest Hospital in Yei when the ambulance she was driving for St. Bakhita Health Center came under attack during the night of 15 May 2016. She suffered gunshot wounds to the hip and abdomen and later died in Nairobi at the age of 58...

Pope Leo XIV Recognizes Heroic Virtues of Cameroonian-born Member of Discalced Carmelites (ACI Africa)

Pope Leo XIV has recognized the heroic virtues of Friar Jean-Thierry Ebogo, a Cameroonian-born member of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites (OCD), advancing the young Religious closer to beatification and offering fresh inspiration to Catholics in Cameroon and beyond...

Fr Costantino Vendrame, SDB, has been declared Venerable (Agenzia Info Salesiana)

On 22 May 2026, the Holy Father Leo XIV received Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in audience. During the audience, the Supreme Pontiff authorised the same Congregation to promulgate the Decree concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Costantino Vendrame, a professed priest of the Salesian Society of St John Bosco, born in San Martino di Colle Umberto (Treviso) on 27 August 1893 and died in Dibrugarh (India) on 30 January 1957...

This is a very good, positive thread. Thank you. How about more like it, such as new and improved schools, hospitals, housing for disadvantaged, monasteries, churches, missions. Less negative threads.

>47 eschator83:

Good idea. Why not start one?

I am very grateful for your polite comment and recommendation and will try harder to find a good source of Church news. Neither USCCB nor VA seem very consistently upbeat nor celebratory.

Shall I start a thread entitled "Good News in the Catholic Church", which you and anybody else can post to as things pop up? We could begin with Pope Leo's new encyclical, which is already being discussed in the Christianity group but hasn't yet appeared in the Catholic Tradition group.

Edited to add: The new thread is here.

Pope Leo calls Archbishop Fulton Sheen 'a light of faith' who touched millions with the Gospel (NCR)

Pope Leo XIV praised Venerable Fulton Sheen on June 1 as "a light of faith, hope, and love" whose radio and television broadcasts brought the Gospel to millions of Americans — including the pope himself as a child. Speaking at a Vatican audience with members of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the pope called it providential that the beloved archbishop will be beatified during the centennial year of the Pontifical Mission Societies he once led as the national director of the U.S. Society for the Propagation of the Faith. "Archbishop Sheen was a light of faith, hope, and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades," Leo said. "I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up," the pope added. "His broadcasts touched millions with the hope of the Gospel and his initiatives and efforts resulted in enormous spiritual and material aid to the Churches in areas of first evangelization." The beatification of Sheen is scheduled for Sept. 24 in St. Louis. His beatification had previously been postponed by the Vatican in 2019...

Vatican elevates Philippine Padre Pio shrine to international status (EWTN)

The Vatican has elevated the National Shrine and Parish of St. Padre Pio in Batangas, Philippines, to the rank of an international shrine, making it only the second shrine in the Philippines to receive the designation from the Holy See... the Capuchin saint whose spirituality continues to attract millions of devotees worldwide...

Pope Leo praises newly beatified Salesian martyrs killed for their fidelity to Christ (NCR)

Nine Polish Salesian priests killed in German Nazi concentration camps during World War II were beatified June 6 at the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II in Kraków during a Mass that highlighted not only their martyrdom but also their lives as educators, pastors and mentors to young people. Pope Leo XIV, speaking after the Angelus prayer June 14 recalled the newly beatified, saying, "All were beatified as martyrs, as victims of the persecution by totalitarian regimes because of their fidelity to Christ"... While Auschwitz became the largest German extermination camp in occupied Europe, Dachau became the principal concentration camp for imprisoned Catholic clergy. Nearly 2,800 clergy were held there during the war, including about 1,780 Poles, according to Poland's Institute of National Remembrance.The group ranged in age from their 30s to their 60s. Some were parish priests, others teachers, seminary professors, school administrators and youth ministers. In October 2025, Leo approved a decree recognizing that they were killed "in hatred of the faith," clearing the way for their beatification. The other two martyrs approved by Leo were Frs. Jan Bula and Václav Drbola, diocesan priests from former Czechoslovakia, executed between 1951 and 1952 under the communist rule of the country...

Pope Leo pays tribute to Jérôme Lejeune, defender of human dignity (Vatican News)

On the centenary of the birth of Venerable Professor Jérôme Lejeune, Pope Leo XIV received members of the Foundation that bears his name and continues his work. In his address, the Pope recalled Lejeune as a pioneer of modern genetics, a physician devoted to the most vulnerable, and a tireless defender of life. He urged members of the foundation to imitate his example and be “committed witnesses in society, at the service of the constant pursuit of the common good.” Professor Jérôme Lejeune, who discovered the chromosomal abnormality responsible for trisomy 21, left a lasting mark on the history of modern medicine. Regarded as one of the fathers of contemporary genetics, he dedicated his life to research and to the care of people with intellectual disabilities. “Medicine,” he liked to say, “is hatred of disease and love for the sick person,” Pope Leo XIV recalled. That conviction, the Pope said, guided Lejeune’s service to those he affectionately called “the poor among the poor”...

For those like me who had never heard of the Venerable Jérôme Lejeune, he was born in 1926 and died 1994.

Lebanese Christians remember Br Estephan, the mountain monk (Vatican News)

The motto of Br Estephan Nehmé, the humble Lebanese monk beatified by Pope Benedict in 2010, was Allah Yarani, or ‘God sees me’. On Saturday, 27th June, the slogan was printed on banners carried in procession through the Lebanese mountains. The marchers, who were headed to the monastery in Kfifan where Br Estephan spent much of his life, were marking the 16th anniversary of his beatification. Someday soon, they hope to see him canonised...