Sainthood Archives

Newman expert says enlisting him in battles over pope ‘not fair’
- Vatican
- Oct 13, 2019
“He didn’t see the teachings of the Church and of our conscience in conflict with each other. And he himself expressed his unshakable belief in the infallibility of the pope,” said Father Ignatius Harrison, the Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, founded by Newman, and the postulator of his sainthood cause said about Cardinal Newman.
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Chesterton hiccup highlights trouble in getting lay saints, expert says
- Church in UK and Ireland
- Aug 6, 2019
Following this week’s announcement that the cause for sainthood for celebrated writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton would not go forward in his home diocese, Dale Ahlquist, an expert on the author, said this stall illustrates how difficult it can be to get laypeople to the altar.
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Argentine union wants Evita to be saint, Church says ‘not so fast’
- Church in the Americas
- May 16, 2019
Archbishop Eduardo Martin of Rosario, Argentina, told reporters that a person is only declared a saint for “eminently religious reasons,” and no others.
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Rome conference ponders the rise of ‘everyday’ lay saints

May 1, 2019

Since the beginning of his pontificate, one of the things Pope Francis has advocated for most vocally is a less clerical Church with a greater involvement of laypeople. In this spirit, a Rome conference has higlighted the increasing number of laypeople being put forward for sainthood, focusing on six concrete examples.

Digital apostle: Pope cites tech whiz as role model for young people

The life of Venerable Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian teenager on the road to sainthood, showed that young people could use the power of social networking and communications with “creativity and even genius,” the pope said in his exhortation Christus Vivit (“Christ Lives”).