Sainthood cause for Denis Hurley

by Letters Editor · September 11, 2014

From Tim Dunne, Cape Town

Recently Pope Francis reportedly removed of obstacles to the cause of the canonisation of Archbishop� Oscar Romero. With that, my mind turns to the question of a sainthood cause for Archbishop Denis Hurley OMI?of Durban.

Reg Stroh is pictured working in his studio on a life-size statue of Archbishop Dennis Hurley., �a work commissioned by the Emmanuel Cathedral in Durban. �http://strohsculpture.wordpress.com/

Rome�s displeasure with Archbishop Hurley in his lifetime was manifest in the apparent refusal to offer him the red hat. Since his passing the silence of the official Church on so fine a bishop is somewhat mysterious for those who saw in him the marks of sanctity.

This muted history makes me wonder whether the previous opposition to the cause of Archbishop Romero�s canonisation is not matched by some similar opposition to any prospective cause for the canonisation of Archbishop Hurley.

It is true that Archbishop Romero appears to have been both prophet and martyr. In contrast, Archbishop Hurley was a prophet but not a martyr in the usual fullest sense.

Nonetheless Archbishop Hurley was a great, courageous and steadfast voice for the poor and powerless, and their rights to the dignity of citizenship, in an age of extended public evil in the exercise of power. He based his witness upon the Gospels.

It therefore seems appropriate that the question of a saintly life is raised again now, in what may be a more sympathetic period than the pre-Francis era.

The centenary of Archbishop Hurley�s birth in November 2015 will be marked by the opening of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban. Is that occasion not a suitable moment at which to announce an official beginning of the required canonisation process for Archbishop Hurley?