INSPIRING LIVES - 32

Process of Canonization -1
welcome back to INSPIRING LIVES, a series on the lives of Saints in the catholic church from around the world. Last Sunday Pope Francis closed the Year of Faith with Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Benedict XVI had opened the Year of Faith celebration in October 2012, and since then we aired our Year of Faith special weekly feature called the THE FAITHFUL WITNESS, based on the lives of Inspiring People and Witnesses of faith in the Catholic Church from around the world. Now we are back to our earlier series on the lives of Catholic Saints from around the world, titled INSPIRING LIVES. Saints are holy people who lived ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. These saints are examples of great holiness and virtue, and they invite us to follow their paths to holiness. Their unique stories inspire us to be rooted in our faith. God calls each one of us to be a saint.In the last couple of years, we have witnessed several canonizations. These new saints of the church came from various walks of life – lay women, catechist, religious, priests and nuns. What made them saints? What are the process the Catholic church follows in canonizing people?. I asked these and similar questions to Jesuit father Peter Gumpel, the first relator, or the investigating judge for the causes of saints, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1983. Incidentally the office of the relator was created by the same Pope in 1983, and Father Gumpel has been the ‘Major official of the first class in the Vatican hierarchy’.
Listen:
Q. Fr. Gumpel, welcome to Vatican Radio. Why do the Catholic Church canonize people today?
Q. How does the Catholic Church go about this canonization?
Q. Do you involve ordinary people in the this process of canonization? If so, how?
Q. Where does Vatican comes in the initial stages of canonization?
Q. what happens next?That’s was the first part of an interview with Jesuit Fr. Gumpel, an investigating judge for the causes of the saints in the Catholic Church. You can listen to the second part of this interview next week.
By P.J. Joseph SJ
FRIDAY, 29 November 2013