South Africa’s sainthood cause

by Editor · August 27, 2003

Pope John Paul has described the saints as people who have “lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way”. This surely is true of Abbot Francis Pfanner, the founder of a South Africa-based charism that has spread to other parts of the world.

All South African Catholics will share in the excitement that the cause for the beatification of the Austrian-born founder of the Mariannhill Missionaries and the Sisters of the Precious Blood has been approved. While the road towards Abbot Pfanner�s beatification, never mind his eventual canonisation, is still long, it is an exhilarating notion that one day the South African Church may have a local saint.

At the same time, the local Church may feel somewhat aggrieved that among the almost 2000 people canonised or beatified by Pope John Paul, there has been only one with a local connection, Blessed Joseph G�rard�and he is usually associated with Lesotho.

For this, of course, one cannot blame the Holy Father or the Congregation for Sainthood Causes. There are few African (or, for that matter, Asian or Latin American) saints not because of a general lack of sanctity, but because the cost of a beatification cause is prohibitive for churches in poorer regions.

For example, the costs for the canonisation cause of Opus Dei founder Josemar�a Escriv� de Balaguer (one of the more straightforward and expeditious causes) is said to have exceeded $1 million (including the cost of the ceremonies).

While Pope John Paul has streamlined the process, it remains complex. The postulator for Abbot Pfanner�s cause, Fr Georg Lautenschlager, will have to document his subject�s life in detail for proof of “heroic virtue”, collate all of Abbot Pfanner�s writings (and literature about him), and submit these to the Vatican for scrutiny. At some stage, the pope may declare Abbot Pfanner “venerable”, the first step towards beatification.

To advance to the beatification stage, Fr Lautenschlager will have to demonstrate that a miracle is attributable to Abbot Pfanner�s intercession.

In short, Fr Lautenschlager�s task, which has no guarantee of success, is daunting, and it will involve considerable cost. Readers are asked to remember his work in their prayers.

For the first half of Christian history, saint-making was a much simpler affair. In essence, saints were recognised by public acclamation. Even in the centuries that followed the codification of canonisations, the period between death and canonisation was often very short.

The 13th century saint Anthony of Padua, for example, was canonised shortly before the first anniversary of his death. Some of his contemporaries were declared saints even sooner. Even for as controversial a figure as Francis of Assisi, only two years elapsed between death and official sainthood.

When Pope John Paul bent the rules a little to fast-track the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, he seemed to do so with a nod to the principle of public acclamation. Of course, even in Mother Teresa�s lifetime there was never a question that she would not be raised to the honour of the altar.

Alas, there are some other models of sanctity that have similarly been popularly acclaimed, but have not reached the stage of beatification. The name of the Salvadoran martyr Archbishop Oscar Romero springs to mind.

Abbot Pfanner is not the subject of public acclamation. However, South African Catholics already persuaded of Abbot Pfanner�s sanctity now have the opportunity to make his work and charism better known, and to pray for the success of his cause.