Vatican sets caps on cost of pursuing sainthood

Jan 16, 2014: “A ‘reference tariff’, which postulators and those promoting the causes of canonization should follow, has come into force earlier this year,” Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, announced on Monday afternoon, at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.

“It is a novelty that comes at the end of the collaborative work between the Congregation and the various postulators, who in recent months have responded positively to the request of the Holy See to present the accounting of their expenses. It is good that those involved, know the costs which they face, both relating to the fees of the Holy See and the remuneration of postulators”, the prelate said.

It will clearly inform dioceses, associations or orders of priests and nuns who promote sainthood causes for deceased people considered to have been holy during their lifetime what they can expect to spend. Gathering historical evidence, witnesses and lawyers to prove to the Vatican that a person was a saint can be expensive, a fact that has favored those dioceses or orders of priests and nuns with more money.

The cardinal then informed that help is being offered for the poor causes. The newspaper said there were plans to establish a fund to help defray expenses for those dioceses or religious orders that did not have much financial backing for the process. The newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, which gave a few details, said the guide had come into force at the start of the year and that its goal was to instil a sense of “sobriety and fairness” to the process.

(Source: L’Osservatore Romano, Reuters, UCANews)