SAINTS GALORE!

Under Pope Francis, Popes John Paul II and John XXIII became the 79th and 80th heads of the Roman Catholic Church to be canonized as Saints, a rare event in modern Church history.

Still, approximately 30% of those venerated as Saints are former Vicars of Christ.  

Starting with St. Peter, 52 of the first 55 popes were venerated as Saints during the Church’s first 500 years. 

In the last 1,000 years, just 7 Popes have been canonized. 

Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005.  Pope Benedict XVI then waived the 5 year waiting period, which Pope John Paul II had shortened from the traditional 50 years after a person’s death, and officially began his predecessor's  canonization process.

Nine years later – a lightning flash in Vatican time – Pope John Paul II was canonized. 

Let’s put that in perspective.

Since 1588, when the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was established, the average time between the death of an eventual saint and canonization had been 181 years.


Lately, Popes have been celebrating canonizations in large numbers.  Saint John Paul II canonized 482 saints – more than the 300 or so canonizations in the previous 600 years. 

For his part, Pope Francis’ first canonization included 813 people – the “Martyrs of Otranto” – who were beheaded by Ottoman soldiers in 1480 after refusing to convert to Islam.

So why the sudden momentum for canonizations after centuries of relative quiet? 

And why the recent trend to have Popes of recent memory have their causes for Sainthood fast tracked?

I note that, while not yet canonized, Popes Pius IX (died 1878), Pius XII (died 1958), and John Paul I (died 1978) are all in some stage of the canonization process.

This past week, Blessed Pope Paul VI, who led the Roman Catholic Church during one of its most turbulent modern periods, will be canonized this year, Pope Francis has decided.

The Holy Father made the announcement at a private meeting with Rome priests. The Vatican issued the transcript of that conversation this weekend.

As he made the announcement on Thursday, Pope Francis joked that he and former Pope Benedict XVI , who resigned in 2013 and is now 90 years old, “are on the waiting list”.

But that quip may not be a joke at all.

Francis, in fact, has now presided over three of the fastest canonizations in modern Church history — those of Mother Teresa, John Paul II and a Spanish nun who died in 1998 and was declared a Saint last year. 

Personally, I find this haste a little disquieting.  But just a little.

I tend to agree with others who suggest that a certain historical distance should be respected, one that allows time and dispassionate discretion in order to properly examine the holiness of a person’s life.

Sainthood should not be a popularity contest.

Still, I never imagined that I would have had personal contact with at least two Pope Saints, Saint Pope Paul VI (whom I served as Acolyte at many a Mass in the Pauline Chapel) and Pope Saint John Paul II (with whom I had the rare and remarkable privilege of conversing in private audience).

And, as I write this article, I must remind myself of the untold number of Saints I have met and with whom I have associated my whole life:  the good and decent people, dear relatives and friends, who have been examples of fidelity and service to the Lord Jesus throughout their lifetimes.

God be praised by the Angels and Saints, in whose company we yet hope to enjoy the blessings of eternity!