Call to holiness

by Editor · October 26, 2011

At the funeral for Pope John Paul II in 2005, the faithful in and around St Peters Square acclaimed the Polish pontiff a saint as they called out: Santo Subito! make him a saint now.

In doing so, those who demanded Pope John Pauls instant canonisation issued a reminder of how holy people used to be included in the College of Saints almost immediately after their death: by acclamation. Until 1170, saints usually were elected not by canonical process, but by a consensus which could be local or international.

The practice of sainthood by acclamation was, of course, problematic. It gave rise to abuses, and the calendar was filled with saints whose existence was doubtful (a reform under Pope Paul VI in 1969 saw many of them removed from the universal calendar, including such stalwarts as St Christopher).

Instead, the Holy See instituted a formal process by which official recognition of sanctity would be granted only after due investigation. In time, this would require the performance of medically inexplicable miracles that could be attributed to a candidates intercession.

Pope John Paul, now a beatus himself, so valued the College of Saints that in his 26-year pontificate he canonised more saints than his 17 immediate predecessors did together, and in the process also reducing the number of miracles required.

While many were doubtful of his method it is notable that Pope Benedict has cut down sharply on canonisations John Paul believed that by endorsing the holiness of those whom he canonised, he promoted the call to sanctity among the faithful.

Indeed, there are several saints to appeal to every Catholic just among those created by Pope John Paul, aside from those who preceded them.

But canonisation is an inexact measure of holiness. The process is dependent on access to liberal funding a sainthood cause is very expensive and on other considerations.

It is said, for example, that the cause of the hugely popular El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero (who as a martyr requires no test of miracles) is stalled because of concerns that its progress might enliven the adherents of liberation theology, which Popes John Paul II and Benedict strongly opposed.

Nonetheless, it is right that South Africans support and pray for the on-going causes of Abbott Francis Pfanner, founder of the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries and the Precious Blood Sisters, and Benedict Daswa, who was martyred in Tzaneen diocese in 1990.

Of course, it is not only the formally recognised saints who inspire us to aim for holiness. Indeed, those who rouse us to sanctity need not even be dead yet. For example, Mother Teresa of Kolkata was regarded as a living saint, and her visibly concrete example of selfless love and service provided many people around the world with a model of holiness to which they could aspire.

That universal call to holiness is a key Catholic teaching: Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behaviour, because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). It invites us to witness to Christ in our conduct and service in the world, in our prayer and devotions in our faith life, and in our courage and hope in suffering.

But the Church acknowledges our failings. Pope John Paul in his 2001 encyclical Novo Millennio Ineunte, pointed out that holiness is not a state of being (though one can be very good at avoiding sinful behaviour), but a perpetual mission to strive for the full Christian life, in imitation of Christ. When we fall, the Church wants us to get up and try again, and again.

We are called to holiness for our own salvation, but also for the good of all. The Second Vatican Council explained that call:

They [Christians] must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbour. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history (Lumen Gentium, 40).

In this way, we are not only called to sanctify ourselves, but also, in diverse ways, to help sanctify others.