What Is A 20th Century Saint?

            Pope John Paul II, a recent pope of the Catholic Church, will soon be canonized around April 2014.  Canonization is the recognition that a person lived a holy life and is in heaven. As attention is turned toward this upcoming canonization, it also brings to focus many other saints who lived in modern times.  This is inspiring, since it is easier to relate to a saint who has undergone similar challenges in a similar time.

            Saints are real people, and contrary to what many think, the Church does not make saints.  The Church merely recognizes that saints lived in obedience to God’s will and are now in heaven.  It is still possible to live the life of a saint.  But how do people become recognized as saints?  And who are some 20^th century saints?

            The Church teaches that to attain the gift of heaven everyone must become a saint.  Some people are able to become saints on earth, whereas others must become saints in purgatory.  

Before the Church recognizes that an individual is in heaven, there are many steps to go through.  Usually this process is begun no sooner than five years after a candidate’s death.  This allows for a more objective look at a person’s life. 

First, as soon as a person is accepted for consideration of sainthood, they’re known as a Servant of God.  This process begins with a local bishop investigating the candidate’s life and writings for evidence of heroic virtue.  This information is sent to the Vatican. 

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints, a division of the Roman Curia (governing body of the Church), then determines if the Servant of God lived a life of heroic virtue.  If so, the candidate is granted the title of Venerable.  Heroic virtue does not mean sinless and perfect.  It means that the person worked hard on their spiritual life and always tried to be obedient to God’s will.

            Next, there must be proof of a posthumous miracle (click here to read the story of a Costa Rican woman's aneurysm cure) by the saint’s intercession.  This candidate’s case is presented to the pope who determines if the person is worthy of being called blessed.  This step is known as beatification.  Martyrs, those who died for their faith in Christ, can be beatified without a miracle.

            The last step, canonization, includes a second posthumous miracle.  A posthumous miracle is a miracle that occurs after a saint’s death, through the saint’s intercession in heaven. The Blessed candidate’s case is presented before the pope again to determine that the evidence is clear and reports to the contrary are not credible.  This step rests on the pope’s judgment; if he chooses, the canonization procedure begins and that person will become a Saint! (canonization mass)

            To be declared a saint, one must have at least two posthumous miracles attributed to them (as discussed in Beatification and Canonization).  There are four types of miracles:

Healing – For this to count in the canonization process, a group of Italian doctors (Consulta Medica), Catholic and non-Catholic, must stipulate “No scientific or medical explanation for the cure can be found.” 

Incorruptibility – After having been dead for a long time, the saint is found free of decay and decomposition when they are exhumed. 

Liquefaction – The dried blood of a saint long dead which liquefies on their feast day. 

Odor of Sanctity – When a saint’s body releases a sweet aroma, like roses, instead of the typical stench of decay. 

Read below for examples of three 20^th century saints.  The first, St. Maximillian Kolbe, has been a saint recognized by the Church for about 30 years.  The second, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, has been a saint for almost one year. And the last, Blessed Pope John Paul II, is a soon-to-be saint.

Maximilian Kolbe (1894 – 1941)

Maximilian Kolbe, a priest killed at Auschwitz in 1941, was canonized on October 10^th, 1982. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him a saint and martyr, attributing two miracles to him. A 1948 cure of intestinal tuberculosis of Angela Testoni, a disease Kolbe himself suffered from, and a 1950 cure of calcification of the arteries/sclerosis of Francis Ranier.

Kolbe was taken to Auschwitz, a German concentration camp, during World War II. He died when he took the place of a man whose family was condemned to die in a starvation bunker.  The man, upon being sentenced, cried out thinking of his wife and children. Kolbe acted. He stepped forward and told the SS guard that he would die in the place of this man. And so, along with nine other men, Kolbe was placed in the starvation bunker and starved to death for two weeks.

Kolbe is the only saint who ran an amateur radio station, during his time on earth. The station existed in the late 1920’s.  He also published a newspaper regularly and used both of these to communicate his message of hope to a broken world, especially his home country of Poland.

Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – 1680)

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized a saint, is known for her devotion to Christ as well as her personal sacrifices.  Kateri’s mother, a Christian Algonquin woman, was captured during a raid. She was born in 1656 to her and a Mohawk father in the village of Ossernion, now known as Auriesville, New York.  When she was four years old, Kateri and her mother fell ill with smallpox.  Her mother died, but Kateri survived with many scars on her face as well as bad eyesight.  She was then adopted by two of her aunts and her uncle.  When she was in her late teens, she converted to Catholicism after learning from French Jesuit priests.   Her family saw this as betrayal.  After she refused to marry a Mohawk man, she was forced to leave.  She walked hundreds of miles to Quebec, Canada, and joined a community of Christian women.  There she took vows of chastity and devotion to the Lord.  Her devotion soon turned into self-inflicted penances: whipping herself with reeds until she bled, walking barefoot in the snow, praying for hours on her knees in an unheated chapel and sleeping on a bed of thorns.  Soon her health began to weaken, and at age 24 she died.  Some witnesses claim that following her death, the small pox scars on her face disappeared.  She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.  Saint Kateri is the patroness of the environment and ecology, and her feast day is celebrated on July 14^th.

Pope John Paul II (1920 – 2005)

Within the next few months, Pope Francis will be performing the canonization ceremony for Blessed Pope John Paul II. This canonization ceremony is certainly unique as the usual five year waiting period was waived, making this ceremony one of the fastest canonizations in history.

Pope John Paul II earned a special place in the hearts of many as an advocate for human rights and by showing compassion for people. He was especially passionate about ending suffering in the world while opposing capital punishment, abortion, and contraception.  He was the first Polish pope and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI in 1522 (more than four hundred years).

As Pope, John Paul II visited more than 100 countries and learned to speak eight languages. Working hard was nothing new to him: as a young man, he was an excellent student and was very athletic. He participated in soccer, backpacking, and hiking.

John Paul II served on the Vatican II council shortly before he became a cardinal in 1967. As pope, he made changes to several traditions, including speaking to audiences in addition to waving and praying for them. He wanted to teach everyone about peace and love. He wrote books on human love and how love and marriage is a sign that we have for the Trinity and God's love for us.

Born Karol Wojtyla, he started his life in Poland and lost his mother and brother, Edmund, before the age of twelve.  He challenged himself and knew where he stood on the issues he and the Church faced.  Pope John Paul II truly was a rock people could look to for guidance and encouragement, which may be why Time Magazine named him “Man of the Year” in 1994.
    It is inspiring to see saints who lived in the same world we do.  It shows that “being a saint” is not something that happened only hundreds of years ago.  In fact, with Pope John Paul II soon to be canonized, saints are happening as we speak, encouraging us all to strive for sainthood.