Canonization of Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer discusses John Paul II's decision to canonize

Josemaría Escrivá Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness ...

, founder of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, more commonly known as Opus Dei.

History of the Cause of Canonization

According to the Vatican, here is the chronology of the process of canonization:

From death to beatification

*1975 - 1980: After Escriva's death on June 26, 1975, the Postulation for the Cause of his

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

and canonization started receiving thousands of reports of favors granted through his

intercession Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying to a deity on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Timothy specified that intercession prayers s ...

; the postulation also received testimonies about his holy life. These came from people all over the world. *1980: Solicitation of the opening of the Cause of beatification and canonization of Msgr. Escriva from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on the 5th anniversary of his death. *1981: Granting of ''

nihil obstat ''Nihil obstat'' (Latin for "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way") is a declaration of no objection that warrants censoring of a book, e.g., Catholic published books, to an initiative, or an appointment. Publishing The phrase ''ni ...

'' by the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

. Promulgation by Cardinal Vicar of the Decree opening the Cause. On March 14, Creation by the Archbishop of Madrid of a tribunal, which, along with the tribunal constituted by the Vicariate of Rome, would receive the testimonies of those witnesses who either lived in Spain or preferred to give their testimony in Spanish. On May 12, Opening of the Roman process on the life and virtues of the Servant of God. On May 18, Opening of the process in Madrid under Cardinal Enrique y Tarancon. *1982: Creation of another tribunal to document a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God. This presided over by Cardinal Enrique y Tarancon. The miracle had occurred in 1976 with the sudden cure of a Carmelite nun suffering from terminal cancer. On April 3, this tribunal was concluded and a certified copy of the proceedings was sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. *1984: Conclusion of the Madrid process on the life and virtues of the Servant of God under Cardinal Angel Suquía, the new Archbishop of Madrid. A complete, certified copy of the proceedings was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On November 20, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints during its Ordinary Congress declared that the process on the miracle was valid. *1986: Conclusion of The Roman process on the life and virtues of the Servant of God under Cardinal Vicar of Rome. :Beginning of Preparation of the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

, a compilation of documents to be examined by the

. The Positio would include the testimonies from both processes (in Rome and Madrid), a critical study on the life and

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

s of the Servant of God, testimonies obtained in both tribunals in Rome and Madrid together with abundant documentary appendices. It would be submitted and examined by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. From the material collected in the Roman and Madrid tribunals, under the direction of Father Ambrogio Eszer, O.P., Relator for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. *1987: Declaration of the validity of the Roman and Madrid processes on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God and their conformity with all legal prescriptions by The Congregation for the Causes of Saints *1988: In June, Submission of the ''Positio'' on the life and virtues of the Servant of God to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for its definitive study. The document contained more than 6,000 pages in 4 volumes. *1989: On September, Affirmative Verdict on the Position by the Meeting of Theologian Consultants *1990: On March 20, Affirmative Verdict by the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinals and Bishops. On April 9, the Pope ordered the publication of the Decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God. After the promulgation of this Decree, the Postulation could present to the Congregation the Positio of the Madrid process on the proposed miraculous cure. On June 30, the Medical Consultants of the Congregation, in their technical report, concluded that the cure could not be explained by natural causes. On July 14, after examining the case, the Meeting of Theologian Consultants affirmed the miraculous character of the cure and attributed its cause directly to the intercession of the Servant of God. *1991: On June 18, Affirmative Verdict on the proposed miracle by the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinals and Bishops. On July 6, the Pope promulgated the Decree, which declared the miraculous nature of the cure. Having fulfilled all the legal requirements established for the causes of saints, the Pope decided to proceed to the beatification. *1992: Beatification of Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer in Rome on May 17.

From beatification to canonization

*1993: News about the miraculous cure of Dr. Manuel Nevado Rey. With the help of Dr. Nevado, the Postulation documented and carried out an exhaustive study on the disease he had suffered. Once the extraordinary character of the cure was clear, on December 30, the Postulation submitted the documentation and petitioned the

Bishop of Badajoz A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(a diocese in Southern Spain) to open a process on the miracle. *1994: The diocesan investigation was carried out by the Episcopal Curia of Badajoz from May 12 - July 4. This was followed by a formal study carried out by the Congregation for Causes of the Saints after the diocesan proceedings were sent to Rome. *1996: On April 26, Declaration of full compliance by the Congregation that the process of the miracle had fully complied with the prevailing legal norms and praxis (Decree of Validity). *1997: On July 10, Unanimous affirmation by the Medical Consultants of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of Dr. Nevado's cure of a cancerous state of chronic radiodermatitis in its third and irreversible stage to be very quick, complete, lasting and scientifically unexplainable. *1998: On January 9, Unanimous affirmation by the Theologian Consultants of the Congregation of the preternatural character of the cure and attributed the disappearance of the disease to the invocation of Blessed Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. *2001: On September 21, Unanimous confirmation of the miracle by the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinal and Bishop members of the Congregation. The decree on the miracle was read before the Pope on December 20. *2002: On February 26, the Pope presided over the Ordinary Public Consistory of Cardinals, which gave its approval for the canonization of several Beati. Among them was Blessed Josemaria Escriva, whose canonization date was announced for October 6, 2002.

Canonization Day

Escrivá was canonized by Pope John Paul II on 6 October 2002 in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. During the canonization, there were 42 cardinals and 470 bishops from around the world, general superiors of many orders and religious congregations, and representatives of various Catholic groups. One-third of the world's bishops (an unprecedented number) petitioned for the canonization of Escrivá. (Messori 1997) During the days of the canonization event, Church officials commented on the universal reach and validity of the message of the founder, echoing John Paul II's decree ''Christifideles Omnes'' on Escrivá's virtues which said that "by inviting Christians to be united to God through their daily work, which is something men will have to do and find their dignity in as long as the world lasts, the timeliness of this message is destined to endure as an inexhaustible source of spiritual light, regardless of changing epochs and situations."

Criticism of the process of canonization

Opus Dei critics take issue with what they see as Escrivá's lightning canonization.ODAN's Opposition to the Canonization of Josemaria Escrivá de Balaguer
September 11, 2002 They argue that the whole process was plagued by irregularities. Kenneth L. Woodward, the longtime religion editor and senior writer for the American newsmagazine ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'', says that the ‘Devil’s advocate’ system was bypassed and witnesses hostile to Escrivá were not called. According to him, it is not true that eleven critics of Escrivá's canonization were heard. He says there was only one. He says the "consultors" were mainly Italian and members of Opus Dei: this stopped Escrivá's many critical Spanish peers from upsetting the procedure, but it also broke the convention that "consultors" should be the fellow countrymen of the proposed saint. He also states that Opus Dei argued that Escrivá was too "international" to need this.A coming-out Party in Rome
, Kenneth L. Woodward. (1992, May 18) Newsweek. Several people complained publicly that they were prevented from testifying before the church tribunals tasked with investigating Escrivá's life. Among those who have claimed that they were refused a hearing because of their critical views regarding Escrivá were Miguel Fisac (a well-known Spanish architect who was one of the earliest members of Opus Dei and remained an associate of Escrivá for nearly twenty years), Monsignor Vladimir Felzmann (a Czech-born engineer and Catholic priest from the UK, who was Escrivá's personal assistant), María del Carmen Tapia (who worked with Escrivá in Opus Dei's central offices in Rome and directed its printing press), Carlos Albás (a Spanish lawyer who was also Escrivá's first cousin once removed), María Angustias Moreno (who was an official of the women's part of Opus Dei during Escrivá's lifetime), and Dr. John Roche (an Irish physicist and historian of science who was a member of Opus Dei from 1959 to 1973 and who managed one of its schools in Kenya).Woodward, Kenneth L.,
"A Questionable Saint,"
''

'', Jan. 13, 1992 Opus Dei officials have claimed that Escrivá's cause had been unanimously approved. However, ''Newsweek'' stated that two of the judges, Luigi De Magistris, deputy head of the Vatican's

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tri ...

, and Justo Fernández Alonso, rector of the Spanish National Church in Rome, did not approve the cause. In fact, one of the dissenters wrote that beatifying Escrivá could cause the church "grave public scandal." The journal ''Il Regno'', published in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

by the congregation of the

Priests of the Sacred Heart The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart ( la, Congregatio Sacerdotum a Sacro Corde Iesu) abbreviated SCI, also called the Dehonians, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church f ...

(the Dehonians), reproduced, in May 1992, the confidential vote of one of the judges in Escrivá's cause of beatification, in which the judge asks that the process be suspended and raises questions about the undue haste of the proceedings, the near absence of testimony from critics in the documentation gathered by the postulators, the failure of the documentation to properly address issues about Escrivá's relations with

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

and with other Catholic organizations, and suggestions from the official testimonies themselves that Escrivá lacked proper spiritual humility.. The text of the vote for suspension is availabl
here
This document does not identify the judge by name, but he indicates that he met Escrivá only once, briefly, in 1966, while serving as a notary for the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

, which implies that the judge in question was De Magistris. In his vote (which its own contents date to August 1989), De Magistris also argues that the testimony from the main witness, Msgr.

Álvaro del Portillo Álvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano (11 March 1914 – 23 March 1994) was a Spanish engineer and Roman Catholic bishop. He served as the prelate of Opus Dei between 1982 and 1994 as the successor to Josemaría Escrivá. Church leaders Pope ...

, who was Escrivá's

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death. John Allen Jr. comments that, according to some observers, De Magistris suffered as a result of his opposition to Escrivá's beatification. De Magistris became head of the Apostolic Penitentiary in 2001, an important position in the Vatican bureaucracy which normally is followed by elevation to the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

, but he retired less than two years later and was made a cardinal only in 2015 by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. According to Kenneth Woodward, author of "Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why," Opus Dei members put hundreds of bishops under financial pressure in order to have them send positive reports about Escrivá to the Vatican. Especially in the Third World, bishops were allegedly told that financial contributions from Opus Dei might be in jeopardy if they did not answer the request for positive testimony. According to Woodward, 40% of the testimony came from just two men, (Alvaro) Portillo (deceased Opus Dei prelate and Escrivá's successor) and his assistant Father Javier Echevarria, (current Opus Dei prelate). On the other hand, supporters refer to Fr. Rafael Perez, an Augustinian, "one of the best experts" on canonization and who was the judge of Escrivá's Madrid Tribunal. He says that the process was fast because first, Escrivá's figure is "of the universal importance;" second, the Postulators "knew what they were doing;" third, in 1983 the procedures were simplified in order to present "models who lived in a world like ours." Fr. Flavio Capucci, the Postulator, also reported that the 6000 postulatory letters to the Vatican showed "earnestness." His team submitted 16 volumes on Escrivá's life including the published criticisms against him. The Tribunals listened to 92 witnesses, most of whom were non-members, much above the minimum. Among them were 11 ex-members. Of the 92, 66 were Spaniards who went to the Madrid court. Each one was asked 252 questions on Escrivá's life, 10 of which were based on the criticisms. Together with the investigative material, the 980 court sessions make this "the longest process to date." Perez also noted that the Tribunal's work is very rigorous and it "listens only to people who are credible" and not to those who "just want to cause harm." He also said that "money can never make a saint," but "genuine interest." Opus Dei supporters say that the other accusations including a slur against the bishops of the Catholic Church are baseless allegations which anyone can think up. Supporters also say that the attacks against the founder's beatification in 1992 have turned into acceptance and support by the time of the canonization in 2002. (''Documentation Service'' Vol V, 3, March 1992) Escrivá's canonization was one of the first to be processed after the 1983 Code of Canon Law streamlined the procedures for canonization, and so it moved more quickly than was typical before. Even under the old procedures, the canonization of St. Thérèse of Lisieux took twenty-seven years, roughly the same as Escrivá's, while

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

, under the new procedures, was canonized nineteen years after her death. According to John Allen, Jr., Mother Teresa's process was quick not "simply because her postulator did a good job. It was clear that John Paul II wanted it to happen. Similarly with Escriva, the pope's long track record of support and devotion...left no doubt where he wanted the process to end. That, in fact, is probably the single most telling argument against the hypothesis that Opus Dei 'bought' or 'manipulated' the beatification and canonization. There was no reason why they had to." "The most defensible conclusion," says Allen, "seems to be that Opus Dei may have played hard and fast, but they played by the rules." (''Opus Dei'', p. 265) Escrivá's books, including ''Furrow'', ''The Way'', ''Christ is Passing By'', and ''The Forge'', continue to be read widely both by members of Opus Dei and by other Catholics attracted to his spirituality, which emphasizes the laity's calling to daily sanctification (a message also to be found in the documents of

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

). Pope John Paul II made the following observation in his homily at the beatification of Escrivá: :"With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaría untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate. Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence work too is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ."

References

* Allen, John, Jr. (2005)
''Opus Dei: an Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church''
Doubleday Religion. — book written after 300 hours of interviews by a journalist of ''National Catholic Reporter'', a left leaning newspaper; link refers to a summary Q&A. Some on-line excerpts are
Chapter I: A Quick OverviewChapter 4: Contemplatives in the Middle of the WorldChapter 7: Opus Dei and Secrecy
* Allen, John, Jr. (24 March 2005)
"Decoding Opus Dei"
An Interview with John Allen, by Edward Pentin. ''Newsweek''. — a short summary of his book *Estruch, Joan, Saints and Schemers: Opus Dei and its paradoxes, 1995 *

Noam Friedlander Noam Friedlander is an author, award-winning scriptwriter, playwright, columnist, interviewer and feature writer. She has written 14 non-fiction books on subjects ranging from sport, religion, entertainment and children's names as well as hav ...

(2005) "What Is Opus Dei", Publisher:Conspiracy Books / Collins and Brown, London. Year: 2005 Pages: 256pp. . *Goodstein, Laurie (7 February 2006)
"Group Says of 'Da Vinci Code' Film: It's Just Fiction"
''New York Times''. *Luciani, Albino Cardinal (John Paul I) (25 July 78)
"Seeking God through everyday work"
''Il Gazzettino'' Venice. * — an investigation (''Un'indagine'', the original Italian title) done by the journalist behin

and th

*Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (Benedict XVI) (9 October 2002)

''L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English'', p. 3.

External links

Alleged irregularities in the Escriva process
Facts about the Canonization from the Opus Dei website
*

Independent Catholic News Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

br>on the CanonizationEscrivá Canonization to Spur Development Projects in Africa: Every Pilgrim Will Offer 5 Euro for "Harambee 2002"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canonization of Josemaria Escriva Escriva de Balaguer, Josemaria Opus Dei