Communion and Liberation sainthood causes

The Fraternity of Communion and Liberation has four people who are in some process of beatification/canonization and study for thereof. There is, of course, the Servant of God Father Luigi Giussani, the Servant of God Andrea Aziani, the Servant of God Enzo Piccinini and the soon to be beatified Carlo Acutis.

 

The other day on the website for Communion and Liberation there was an update on beatification of Enzo Piccinini. The update is that the nulla osta for the cause of beatification has been received from the Congregation for Saints. Only twelve months ago was the cause opened. The news came on “twenty-first anniversary of the death of the Modenese surgeon, friend and collaborator of Fr. Giussani, celebrated on Tuesday, May 26.” The nulla osta from the Holy See means that the diocesan inquiry for the cause can officially begin.

The announcement can be read be here.

In addition, we in the Movement are also waiting on the diligent work on the sainthood caused for Father Luigi Giussani, Andrea Aziani and the beatification of the Venerable Servant of God Carlo Acutis. We await word of a date for the beatification ceremony for Acutis.

The Acutis Family doesn’t have a history of practicing the Catholic Faith and there is speculation that the Polish woman who cared for Carlo introduced him to the person of Jesus. Known as a techi, Carlo was involved with CL and the Rimini Meeting. Two brief intros into the life and person of Carlo Acutis are from OSV and Crux. Acutis is a saint whose mission is (and was) to draw our attention to the reality of the Holy Eucharist and our devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Andrea Aziani died 12 years ago while serving the Lord in Peru, where as a consecrated member of CL’s Memores Domini, he taught Philosophy at a school he helped to establish, Sedes Sapientiae University. His was a life to dedicated to Christ through the service of the poor. His cause proceeds.

Aziani’s postulator is Father Antonio Nurena.

Saints beget saints.

Dorothy Day’s new biography

The Servant of God Dorothy Day has a new critical biography penned by accomplished biographers John Loughery and Blythe Randolph. According to the NYTimes review of the book, the authors viewed their subject as “challenging and complex.” Dorothy Day: Dissenting Voice of the American Century is a portrait of Day but it is incorrect to claim that it is the first in 40 years. There are a few other biographies of Dorothy Day published in recent years. I look forward to delving into the Loughery and Randolph volume; my hope is that they did not merely perpetuate the same old cliches. But I doubt it. Already in the review one gets the sense that Day is treated more as a political person than someone who encountered Jesus Christ and desired to live in creative tension and toward the Gospel and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Terms used to describe Day without due attention to her relationship with Christ and the Mystical Body of Christ are misleading. Happy reading.

The review can be read here.

Irving Houle’s cause for sainthood inches ahead

At the June 11-13, 2019 meeting, the US bishops unanimously voted to proceed with the sainthood cause for Irving Houle, a man who is reported to have lived with the Lord’s sacred stigmata. Houle had the stigmata for 16 years; he lived in Escanaba on the Upper Peninsula with his wife of 60 years, Gail; together they had five children. Irving died on January 3, 2009.

Irving Houle was an active fourth-degree Knight of Columbus.

Houle’s reception of the stigmata on Good Friday, April 8, 1993.

The Diocese of Marquette (MI) is pursuing the sainthood cause.

Crux published the story here. And a in-depth article on Irving Houle was written by Joseph Pronechen for the National Catholic Register found here. But you may also be interested in the biography, A Man Called Francis.

If canonized, Irving Houle would be the first US saint who bore the precious wounds of the Savior and would be in the company of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Pio Pietrelcina, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Catherine Ricci, St Veronica Giuliani, St. Mariam Baouardy, St. Catherine of Siena, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, among others. Interesting, 80% of the confirmed people with the stigmata are women. Rhoda Wise is the other American but she not being considered for sainthood.

Father Augustus Tolten named “Venerable Servant of God”

On June 11, 2019, Pope Francis received in an audience Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and promulgated several decrees and among them:

–heroic virtue of the Servant of God Augustus Tolten, diocesan priest; born in Brush Creek, Missouri on 1 April 1854 and died in Chicago on 9 July 1897.

He will be known as the Venerable Servant of God Augustus Tolten.

Father Tolten studied theology in Rome and was ordained in the Basilica of St. John Lateran on 24 April 1886 and celebrated his First Mass at the Vatican Basilica the next day.

The Archdiocese of Chicago is handling the sainthood cause. See the website here.

Let us pray for this sainthood cause for the renewal of the priesthood, especially here in the USA.

The Field Afar: The life story of Vincent Capodanno

Not to be missed! The Field Afar: The life story of Vincent Capodanno, a Catholic Priest who received the Medal of Honor for his valor as a chaplain to the Marine Corps during some of the most harrowing battles of the Vietnam war and whose Cause for Canonization is currently open in Rome.

Showing as part of the New Haven International Film Festival on Thursday, May 16 – 8:35 PM at Gateway Community College, 20 Church Street, New Haven.

Tickets: https://filmfreeway.com/NewHavenFilmFestival/tickets

Rosary Priest moves ahead in sainthood study

On 18 December 2017, the Holy Father received Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and among the decrees issued was this one on the cause for canonization of Father Patrick Peyton. The notice reads:

The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Patrick Peyton, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He was born January 9, 1909 in Carracastle (Ireland) and died in San Pedro, California, on June 3, 1992.

The Venerable Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton was founder of the Holy Cross Family Ministries, dedicated his life to serving God by bringing a message of hope to families around the world and encouraging family prayer of the rosary.

Blessed be God

Saint’s granddaughter writes: Dorothy Day in a new perspective

kate hennessyKate Hennessy has written about her grandmother, the Servant of God Dorothy Day in a new memoir, Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty: An Intimate Portrait of My Grandmother.

A look at Kate Hennessy’s book can be read here. You can also listen to the interview in the aforementioned link.

From the article:

From the Is Day a saint then in the final analysis?

“It’s complicated,” Hennessy says. “She is foremost my grandmother, that’s the most important relationship for me. The process for canonization is very much a church process and the church needs to do what it needs to do and I hope it’s not going to become bogged down in proceduralism or conflict.” Hennessy said.

Then she quickly adds, “I absolutely believe she’s a saint, aside from the canonization. Just the way she leads us to change our perception of ourselves and the world around us, I think is so full of grace.”

Me, too. I hope that the sainthood study process does not stall. May the Lord be blessed with Dorothy’s beatification!

John Hardon’s case for canonization

John HardonI never met Father John Hardon, SJ, in person. BUT, I was first introduced to him through one of his magnificent volumes on the catechism. Years later when I was when I was in the Society of Jesus the Jesuits would roundly revile him and cast aspersions upon his character. Sadly, the smoke of Satan harden their hearts and minds.

In 1985-1986, my junior year at Notre Dame High School, we used Fr Hardon’s The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church. Only years later did I realize we used a superior text. As we called it, the “yellow book,” is indeed a serious and passionate book on the faith giving the Truth.

I only wish that DREs and catechists would take up this text and others of Hardon’s. The state of parish catechesis is an dreadful state: too many parish teachers of religious education/formation don’t know the basics and gladly remain in their ignorance. Local parishes are too weak in the practice of the faith and the spiritual life, and they lack the competence to pass on the faith to others in a beautiful, living manner. I vividly remember the troubles trying to get the catechists (and the priest as well) to think about the content and methods of passing on the Catholic faith to the children and parents. Besides their error they would teach a book and not the truth of the experience of person of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the sacrament of the Church. I would say to myself “If they only would read Fr Hardon’s yellow book.” So, I consider Hardon’s The Catholic Catechism as an exceptional text for the basics that we all need.

Father Hardon’s sainthood cause is under way and God-willing, making good headway. In fact, he carries the title of “Servant of God” with the hope that the work being done will lead to the Church granting him the title of “Venerable Servant of God.” I look forward to the Church’s declaration that Hardon is a beatus and saint in the near future.

I offer an article by Jim Graves that speaks to the life and sanctity of Father Hardon, “Fr. John Hardon May Be on His Way to Canonization.”

You may want to visit the Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archive and Guild will give you an overview of Father’s human, intellectual and spiritual patrimony.