There has been increased media interest in Pope John Paul II's possible canonization. CNN recently ran a special on the life of the late pope, and The New York Times had an Easter Sunday piece entitled, "Miracles and the Fast Track to Sainthood," by its Rome correspondent, Ian Fisher.
Fisher reminded readers that, two years ago, many in the huge funeral crowd in Saint Peter's square held up banners with the words, "Santo Subito." Literally translated, "A saint immediately."
The newly elected pope, Benedict XVI, did dispense with the usual five-year waiting period before initiating a formal process leading to possible beatification and canonization. John Paul II himself had done the same for Mother Teresa. Although she died almost ten years ago, she was not beatified until five years later, in October 2003. And she still has not been canonized a saint.
It is likely that John Paul II's cause will experience a similar delay. According to the most recent set of rules promulgated in 1983 by the late pope himself, there must be at least one authenticated miracle for beatification, and a second one for canonization.
A French nun has recently reported her cure from Parkinson's disease after praying to John Paul II, but church authorities have not yet confirmed it as a miracle. When and if they do, he will be close to achieving the same beatified status as Mother Teresa, who is now Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Two years after his death in April 2005, however, John Paul II's title remains "Servant of God," which is bestowed on everyone whose formal cause for sainthood has been initiated. That pace hardly meets the demand of those in the crowd at the papal funeral --- "Subito." Right now!
Since popes can do almost anything they wish under the existing laws of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI could have simply waived all of the requirements for canonization and declared his predecessor a saint as of that moment. But he has chosen instead to let the process run its specified course. Last month, the late pope's diocese of Cracow in Poland presented its case for his beatification, in accordance with those procedures.
When the author of the New York Times article contacted me for a brief comment, he asked a single question: "Why does the Church need saints in the first place?"
"The simplest answer to your question," I replied, "is that the Church needs saints as models of Christian discipleship. Saints are ordinary people like all of us who have manifested extraordinary qualities of holiness.
"Unfortunately," I continued, "too many people look upon saints as miracle-workers who have the heavenly powers of curing us of our ills. The Church itself still encourages this line of thought by making miracles the key criterion for advancement to beatification and then to canonization.
"In proper perspective, however, saints are examples rather than miracle-workers or intercessors. The technical term is sacramentality. They are signs of what it means to be human in the fullest and best sense of the word. Which is also why the Church has been wrong to have canonized so many priests and nuns rather than married lay people who lived ordinary lives in extraordinary ways, rejoicing in their children and grandchildren and doing good for so many others."
The Times used practically all of that final paragraph, except for the sentence pertaining to "sacramentality." The editor was right in cutting it because the reference would have required further elaboration --- too much for a relatively short piece. But I am not so constrained in this column.
Sacramentality is a principle that pertains to the manifestation and saving activity of God through signs. Indeed, sacraments are signs that cause grace, and grace, in turn, is simply the presence of God within us, individually and as a community, and within the whole created order. Literally, grace is a gift --- the self-gift of God.
The greatest sign and cause of God's presence and saving activity is Jesus Christ himself. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, is also a sign and a cause of the presence and saving activity of Christ in and for the world. That is why ongoing church renewal and reform are so vital. The Church must look and act the part it claims to play.
Each member of the Church is called, whether we realize it or not, to be a compelling sign and an effective instrument of God's healing presence and activity on behalf of others.
Saints are special signs and instruments of God's presence and activity among us. They exist to inspire us to be, and to do, likewise. Father Richard P. McBrien is the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
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