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Theology of the Heart- The Church teachings on Saints |
NEW EVANGELIZATION WITH THE SAINTS
Archbishop Nowak: saints prove that Christ appeals to all hearts
L’Osservatore Romano- 2001
At the solemn crowning of the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary in St
Peter's Church at Gravesano in Lugano, Switzerland, on 4 March 2001,
Archbishop Edward Nowak, titular Archbishop of Luni and Secretary of
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, answered questions about
the great number of beatifications and canonizations in the last
twenty years. The priests and faithful wondered why there should be
so many. Here is a translation of their questions and of Archbishop
Nowak's answers.
Q: Beatifications and canonizations have become one of the most
visible ecclesial phenomena of John Paul II's pontificate. What is
the connection of this emphasis on holiness and the work of the new
evangelization?
Archbishop Nowak: Before answering this question, I should
like to give you precise information. Since the beginning of Pope
John Paul's pontificate, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
has worked on more than 1,600 beatifications and canonizations,
1,675 in all. The Holy Father has canonized 446 blesseds at 41
ceremonies and beatified 1,229 servants of God at 124 ceremonies.
It should be noted that the beatifications or canonizations were
frequently collective, that is, the Holy Father canonized or
beatified several individuals or entire groups at the same ceremony,
especially in cases of martyrdom, such as the martyrs in China
(120), the Vietnamese martyrs (116), the Mexican martyrs (25), the
martyrs of the French Revolution (64), who were beatified on 1
October 1995, 13 martyrs of the Byzantine-Greek rite, martyrs of the
Union of Rome who were beatified on 6 October 1996, and the Spanish
martyrs (233 were beatified by John Paul II, 11 March 2001).
Q: What is the reason for this emphasis on holiness?
Archbishop Nowak: The answer is simple: the Church's mission
is meaningless if it does not lead to holiness, which is human life
in union with Christ.
This union is open to different levels: if in a person it is found
to be full and total, also called "heroic", then we are dealing with
a saint. The person who obeys God's commandments and the directives
of the Gospel can be defined as a "normal" Christian. He too must be
saved and obtain eternal life with God, which is, essentially,
holiness. This is why Pope John Paul emphasizes holiness as the goal
of the mission of the Church. We achieve salvation, as we all know,
by striving resolutely to practice the Christian virtues day in and
day out, obeying Christ's Gospel and the Church's instructions,
receiving the sacraments that are channels of divine grace. The most
obvious result of the activity of the Church and of her fidelity to
the mission she has received from Christ are precisely the saints
and the blesseds. They testify to her work, they are the most
beautiful fruits of evangelization and of the sacramental ministry.
Of course, holiness is a gift of God. It is the Lord who makes
saints. The Church has the task of discovering these gifts and of
presenting them to the faithful.
This is the perspective that we find in the Pope's recent Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, which spells out the basic guidelines
for the Church in the new millennium. The fundamental point is
holiness. The entire activity of the Church is directed to this task
and this goal.
Q: John Paul has broken with the tradition of canonizing and
beatifying exclusively priests and women religious. What does this
extension of holiness to lay people mean?
Archbishop Nowak: In the history of the Church there are and
have always been many lay saints. Only think of the martyrs of the
early centuries who witnessed to their faith by pouring out their
blood. However, it is true that in the previous period there was a
tendency to identify holiness with priestly or monastic life. This
gave rise to the popular belief that only priests and sisters could
become saints; but this is not true! John Paul II has put a strong
emphasis on lay people. Indeed, he has even asked us to proceed with
the causes of married couples who can set an example of Christian
married life. In various dioceses the first steps are being taken to
this kind of beatification. The majority of Christians are lay
people, and we must be able to offer them examples of Christian life
in the world. I am personally inclined to disagree with those who
separate the laity, priests and sisters. I wonder where priests and
sisters come from if not from our families? Where did you or I come
from? From a normal Christian family. Then before becoming priests
or sisters, they lived at least their first "20 years" in the
family. They were lay people who at a certain point felt they had a
religious vocation.
Q: Why is the appearance of these "new saints" and the increase in
the number of beatifications and canonizations happening precisely
at this moment in history?
Archbishop Nowak: In the context of the new evangelization,
the Pope also wants to evangelize by means of the Saints and
Blesseds, that is, by means of Christians who lived their faith and
the Gospel both heroically and radically. They are "Gospel figures",
"true Christians" to whom we should refer for the new
evangelization. They are models of Christian life, in the different
human conditions that we must incarnate. The saints, furthermore,
enable us to see how Christ continues to make himself present to the
world, and how his Gospel is extending in time and space. They are
valuable examples for the Church: Blesseds and Saints show us the
practical ways to holiness. Their lives are lives of witnessing to
Christ. Today they are held up to the people of the new
evangelization and to the people of our times. The Church presents
the riches of the patrimony of their holiness and witness to the new
generations and the times to come and this heritage serves as a
reference point in their human and Christian formation. In the life
of the Church it also serves as a contribution to the mission of
evangelizing the world. Since they constitute a heritage, the saints
are also a programme, that is, they show us what we need to do. They
are an example for us to follow of how, or in what way, we should
fulfil our commitment to being human and Christian.
Q: What about the category of martyrs? The 20th century has produced
more than the sum total of all the others. John Paul II often refers
to the fruitfulness of martyrdom. What difference is there between
the Christian meaning of martyrdom and the rhetoric of bloodshed
present, for example, in revolutionary movements of a more political
kind?
Archbishop Nowak: I would like to stress that there is no
need to dwell on the assertion that the 20th century has produced
more martyrs than all the others. We who live in this age have a
better knowledge of the recent martyrs, starting with those of
Mexico, of Spain, of the Nazi concentration camps, the Soviet
"gulags", the missionaries in Latin America, etc. Through the media
we have a perfect knowledge of the history of every missionary
martyr who is able to be recorded and known. In past centuries
however, entire cities, regions and peoples were exterminated for
their Christian faith, hence they were Christian martyrs. The
problem is that at that time no one had the means to record the
facts, and they are therefore forgotten. There were thousands of
Roman martyrs, for example. We can safely say that martyrdom has
always existed in the Church. Today we can record it "in detail",
whereas this was more difficult in the past.
The fruitfulness of martydom is a fact which has accompanied this
phenomenon from the beginning. Tertullian said: "the blood of the
martyrs is the seed of new Christians". Blood generates new
followers. This has always proved to be the case. It is the scandal,
absurdity and paradox of Christianity. There is no reasonable
explanation! Yet, perhaps there is one, that is, Christ himself, and
his "defeat" on the cross that has generated Christianity and
millions and millions of Christians in every age.
As regards John Paul II's pontificate, the number of martyrs to be
proclaimed Saint or Blessed total 400 Saints who are martyrs and 991
Blesseds who are martyrs.
Q: The suffering of the martyrs also recalls the effort it requires
to be Christian. In short, authentic witness is never cheap. Could
this mean that it is impossible to be Christian without also being,
to a certain extent, a martyr?
Archbishop Nowak: It's true. The devotion to the saints began
with martyrdom, with those lives given for Christ. One spoke of "red
martyrdom", but also of a "white martyrdom". Christians who live
with their difficulties day after day, who continue to do their
work, who look after their families, often heroically, are true
martyrs and the early Christians already knew this. Let us think of
our own families, of our own parents. How many sacrifices they made,
how hard they worked! In fact, alongside the category of martyrs
there was another category, that of "confessors", those who every
day confess their faith in Christ's Name through their lives. The
saints are also "martyrs" of their daily duties. Perhaps, at times,
it is harder to be a "martyr" in everyday life than to face
martyrdom in a single act at the hands of persecutors.
Q: On Sunday, 11 March, the Pope beatified a group of Martyrs of the
Spanish Civil War. How can you form a clear and balanced opinion of
these martyrs when, especially today, the history of the Spanish
Civil War is being hotly debated and is a topic marked by
ideological options and interests that make objective discussion
difficult?
Archbishop Nowak: You are speaking of an ideological debate,
of ideologies, whereas in a beatification one deals with a concrete
person. In every case, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
and, before that, the local Church, in other words, the bishop and
the faithful, spontaneously recognize, through their sense of faith,
the "martyr" and venerate him as a martyr. The bishop seeks to
ascertain the presence of the criteria for Christian martyrdom in an
actual death or "bloodshed in hatred of the faith" and the
"voluntary acceptance of death for the faith". If in analyzing a
person's death we become aware that it has been inflicted for
religious reasons, and that this person has accepted the call to die
for the faith, we know we are dealing precisely with Christian
martyrdom. Ideologies such as Nazism or Communism serve as a context
of martyrdom, but in the foreground the person stands out with his
conduct, and, case by case, it is important that the people among
whom the person lived should affirm and recognize his fame as a
martyr and then pray to him, obtaining graces. It is not so much
ideologies that concern us, as the sense of faith of the People of
God, who judge that the person's behaviour was that of a martyr.
Q: Saints' causes progress at different rates in your Congregation.
What does this depend on?
Archbishop Nowak: Indeed many causes really do take a long
time while others take less. It depends on the general interest of
the people near the saint. Padre Pio, for example, is universally
recognized and invoked by many, which is why his cause advanced
quickly. Miracles, understood as God setting his seal upon these
figures, are also required. Other candidates for beatification are
less well-known, because they come from distant countries. Still
today, we have difficulties communicating with Africa or Asia. In
these cases causes can take longer.
Q: Every new blessed or saint is backed by a group of the faithful
who have promoted the process of the recognition of their virtues.
Is this also a matter of finance?
Archbishop Nowak: A priest is backed by a diocese or a
parish. A lay person is backed by an association or a specific
context of which he was part. A man or woman religious is backed by
the congregation to which he or she belonged. The process usually
lasts rather a long time, on average for about 50 years. This
requires that interest in the cause endures through time. It is
easier for a well-organized structure to be interested in a
candidate; it can thus make all the necessary preparations, even
over a long period. Naturally this commitment also entails an
expense. Those involved in the preparations are doing the work, they
are obliged to travel to collect or give testimonies. Then documents
have to be translated or printed and, of course, they do not sell
like best sellers, so the cost can become quite prohibitive. Experts
do not complete their task in an hour but over many years, so they
must be guaranteed funding for their research and study.
Q: Those with means can support a cause for beatification more
effectively. But what about the others?
Archbishop Nowak: The Congregation for the Causes of Saints
has a perfect understanding of this problem. It has created a fund
for so-called "poor causes". The funds left over, after a cause is
completed, are made available to poorer causes that originate in the
poorer countries, like those in Africa, South America or the former
Communist countries.
Q. You said that on the average a beatification cause can take 50
years. Why does it take so long?
Archbishop Nowak: Ecclesial tradition has
settled on a certain period of time to allow for emotions to settle
down. Everyone remembers when Mother Teresa of Calcutta died. Her
death gave rise to great emotion. Around the same time, Princess
Diana died, also arousing strong feelings. In the case of Mother
Teresa, immediately after her death, some people were calling for
her beatification, even by acclamation. When emotions are running
high, people call for immediate action, but, after a while, the
Church can achieve a calm, neutral and detailed evaluation of the
person's character, work and life. A certain period always has to
elapse before a cause for beatification can be introduced. Today it
is five years after the person's death. In the former canonical
legislation, 30 years were required, even before beginning to
examine a person's heroic virtues.
Q: Some new Saints and Blesseds have a universal quality. Pius IX or
John XXIII spring to mind. What is the Pope's role in these special
cases?
Archbishop Nowak: Two canonical criteria are required before
the competent bishop can initiate a beatification process: the fame
of holiness and the fame of signs: holiness and works—"fama
sanctitatis" and "fama signorum" or "miraculorum".
Public opinion, the faithful, must be convinced that a person is
truly holy, and with this conviction they must visit his grave,
pray, and receive graces which we call "signs". In such cases people
say they have received graces or signs from God, having prayed for
the intercession of the person in question. It is the local Ordinary
who has the right to determine the fame of holiness and the fame of
signs; so it is he who begins the process. The same canonical
criteria also apply to Popes. If the people believe that a certain
Pope is holy, then the cause can be introduced. Moreover, if there
are also graces, then the second condition is fulfilled and it is
possible to proceed with the beatification. In the case of John
XXIII, the press was full of the news of graces obtained through his
intercession. Consequently, the two conditions for his beatification
were fulfilled.
In our frequent contacts with the Holy Father, he informs us of
certain priorities for our work. When for example he visits a
country, he wants to leave it a sign of his presence which can
become a model and inspiration of Christian life. The most beautiful
sign is a Blessed or a Saint, whose character is familiar to the
people of a specific country, because he or she is one of them. The
faithful can therefore be inspired by the saint's example: they can
pray to him and visit his grave, and there are attestations or signs
of his activity. The Pope also gives us pastoral priorities. We have
already mentioned that of the laity and married couples.
Q: At the beatification of Pius IX, the Pope said that recognition
of holiness did not imply the judgement of a person's "specific
historical decisions". But to what extent can the unity of the
personality be split? Is there a different yardstick for measuring
social ethics and spiritual ethics?
Archbishop Nowak: When we speak of people who have played a
role in society—public or political figures—we first examine their
spiritual life, their union with Christ and their holiness. The
saint is the person who lived his spirituality "heroically"; that
is, in the social condition in which the Lord set him. With regard
to his political decisions, he made them in accordance with his
conscience. If he obeyed his conscience he is fully justified in
whatever he did. Let us think of Jesus who died crucified: this
implied that he had got everything wrong, he had failed in his
mission, his so-called "political decisions" were mistaken. However,
political decisions are not so very important. What is important is
the union with God of the candidate for the honours of the altar,
his inner, spiritual life and the external behaviour that stems from
it.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
