Friday 29th March 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Currently Reading:

Maiorem Hac Dilectionem . . . A New Way Toward Beatification

July 19, 2017 Our Catholic Faith No Comments

(Editor’s Note: Below we publish the full text of the Holy Father’s motu proprio on a new way toward beatification, titled, Maiorem hac dilectionem. It takes its title from the words of our Lord as recorded in the Gospel According to St. John, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The translation of the motu proprio is by ZENIT News Agency.

(But just below, before the text of the motu proprio, we reprint Fr. John T. Zuhlsdorf’s commentary on it, which first appeared July 11 on his wdtprs.com.
(All rights reserved.)

+ + +

The Pope issued a Motu Proprio Apostolic Letter today by which he established a new path (iter) by which a person might eventually be beatified.
Hitherto, we have had the main paths “super heroicitatem virtutum…living the life of heroic virtues” and “super martyrio . . . martyrdom.” Now there is to be a path also of vitae oblatio . . . the offer of own one’s own life having lived a life of virtue at least in the ordinary way.
There is an oddity about the document. But what isn’t odd today about documents of the Holy See? The oddity is this, at least in the way that it is found in the Bolletino (only the Italian Bolletino and not the English . . . ’cause . . . well. . . .) The Bolletino gives the text in Italian and, beneath that, the Latin translation. And yet the document has a Latin title, which is screwed up in the title of the item in the Bolletino, but which nevertheless ought to be Maiorem hac dilectionem.
[Here Fr. Zuhlsdorf gives his own translation of key parts of the motu proprio, found at wdtprs.com.]
The bulk of the document deals with the details of the procedure, etc.
In the Church we have had the ancient teaching and tradition of “red” or bloody martyrdom for the sake of charity whereby the martyr dies giving witness in the face of hatred for Christ, the Church, the Faith or some aspect of the Christian life that is inseparable from our Christian identity.
There is also a long tradition of identifying “white” martyrdom, coined by St. Jerome, whereby a person gives witness through an ascetic life, withdrawal from the world, pilgrimages involving great sacrifice, or who suffer greatly for the Faith but who do not die in bearing witness.
Coming from another tradition there is a kind of “blue” (or “green”) martyrdom, involving great penance and mortifications without necessarily the sort of withdrawal from life that a hermit or a cenobite might live. Gregory the Great in his Dialogues, writes of different kinds of martyrdom, bloody, public martyrdom in time of persecution and secret martyrdom, not in time of persecution. He wrote that secret martyrs are no less worthy of honor, because they also endured sufferings and the attacks of hidden enemies, but they persevered in charity.
In principle I think that this is a good move . . . if we are going to stay on the course of so many causes for beatification, that is. Once upon a time, it was an extremely difficult process to investigate a life, gather proofs and organize all the documentation properly, and then study it thoroughly, etc. Now, with the modern means of travel and communication, that process is easier. Many more causes have resulted and, because they in fact corresponded to the criteria established, more causes have been successful.
Also, it was the clear desire of John Paul II that there be more examples of Christians “raised to the altar” for our edification and imitation, so as to say, “Yes, it is possible to be a saint!” I think that results have varied in that project. In a way, it is good to encourage people to aspire to sainthood. However, once the number of beatifications and canonizations multiplied, they seemed less “special.” Also, if this can be imagined, the “truly amazing” saints perhaps get lost in the sea of “merely amazing” saints, if you get my drift.
Again, the Pope made that call. Popes get to make the call about which beatifications and canonizations are good for the Church here and now. They can speed or slow the timing of the causes.
This new category of “offering of life” fills a gap. For example, the undoubtedly great St. Maximilian Kolbe was beatified as a confessor by Paul VI in 1971, but canonized as a saint by John Paul II in 1982 as a martyr, not a confessor. His is a case of bridging categories. The dedicated Nazi death camp murderers probably hated the Church, the Faith, and priests and had no problem killing them. However, St. Maximilian offered his own life in place of another prisoner. It could be argued that he wasn’t killed because of the Faith, but because of his offer. His interesting, and heroic, case could be addressed by this new category of iter, the vitae oblatio.
I can imagine also cases of a pregnant woman refusing to have an abortion even though bringing a child to term kills her. The great St. Gianna Beretta Molla refused to have an abortion and hysterectomy while pregnant with her fourth child knowing full well that she could die…which she did. During her life she was deeply involved with works of charity for the poor. She would probably be a candidate for beatification by this iter.
I can imagine any number of circumstances whereby people make a sacrifice for others and die as a result, though the death they died was not necessarily that of bloody martyrdom from hatred for the Faith. For example, Fr. Vincent Capodanno was a Navy Chaplain serving Marines in the Vietnam War. He was killed trying to give Last Rites to the wounded after refusing medical aid for his own severe wounds. His cause is now already open, so I suppose that it would have to be retooled in order to take this new iter.
I can imagine a case of a person perhaps — setting aside issues of the acceptability of organ transplants, which are becoming more “ordinary” now — donating an organ to save someone’s life and, in so doing, weakening herself to the point of eventual death in a fairly short time. If it could be demonstrated in the Positio that she had lived a virtuous and holy life, even not necessarily, the life of heroic virtue, this new iter could be followed in her cause.
I can imagine a person who, diagnosed with a horrible disease, sure to bring death if not treated, might possibly refuse treatment and then undertake to offer all his sufferings for the sake of a specific person’s needs. That might be on the edge of this iter. I am trying to think of examples.
In any event, I suspect that this new iter will result in many more causes being opened. Results will vary and the quality of some of the processes…well…we’ll see. Also, I suspect that some cases that may have lingered for a while might get an injection of new energy.
Is this is a “lowering of the bar”? On the one hand, there are cases of “heroic virtue” (which must be properly understood). I’ve written about what that means elsewhere. (I did the official Studium with the Congregation for Causes of Saints.) On the other hand, this new iter does not require “heroic” virtues, but “ordinary,” although at the end of the act of offering of life there is end of life — and it will have to be proven with proofs in the Positio that there was an act of offering of life and that that act led to death.

+ + +

(From ZENIT: Pope Francis opened the possibility of a new way for the processes of beatification and canonization: “the offering of life,” which is added to the martyrdom and heroic virtues. Here is our complete translation of his apostolic letter in the form of the motu proprio maiorem hac dilectionem, published on this matter on July 11, 2017.)

+ + +

“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
These Christians, who following more closely the steps and teachings of the Lord Jesus, offered voluntarily and freely their life for others and persevered in this intention up to death, are worthy of particular consideration and honor.
It is certain that the heroic offering of their life, suggested and sustained by charity, expresses a veritable, full, and exemplary imitation of Christ and it is why they merit the admiration that the community of the faithful usually reserves to those who voluntarily accepted the martyrdom of blood or exercised the Christian virtues to a heroic level.
With the support and favorable advice expressed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that, during the plenary session of September 27, 2016, studied carefully if these Christians merited Beatification, I have established that the following norms be observed:
Art. 1: The offering of life is a new individual case of the procedure of Beatification and Canonization, distinct from the individual case on martyrdom and on the heroism of virtues.
Art. 2: In order to be valid and effective for the Beatification of a Servant of God, the offering of life must respond to the following criteria:
a) Free and voluntary offering of life and heroic acceptance propter caritatem of a certain death and at short term;
b) Link between the offering of life and premature death;
c) Exercise, at least in an ordinary manner, of the Christian virtues before the offering of life and, then, up to death;
d) Existence of a reputation for holiness and signs, at least after death;
e) Necessity of a miracle for Beatification, occurring after the death of the Servant of God and through his intercession.
Art. 3: The holding of the corresponding diocesan or eparchial investigation and the Positio are regulated by the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister of January 25, 1983, in Acta Apostolicae Sedis, volume LXXV (1983, 349-355) and by the Normae Servandae in Inquisitionibus ab Episcopis Facendis in Causis Sanctorum of February 7 of the same year, in Acta Apostolicae Sedis volu7me LXXV (1983-396-403), under reservation of what follows.
Art. 4: The Positio on the offering of life must respond to the doubt: An constet de heroica oblatione vitae usque ad mortem propter caritatem neenon de virtutibus christianis, saltem in gradu ordinario, in casu et ad effectum de quo agitur.
Art. 5: The following articles of the quoted Apostolic Constitution are modified thus:
Art. 1: “To the diocesan Bishops, to the Eparchs and to those assimilated to them by law, in the framework of their jurisdiction, be it of office, be it at the request of the faithful themselves or of legitimate Associations and their representatives, is the right to investigate the life, the virtues, the offering of life or the martyrdom and the reputation for holiness, of offering of life or of martyrdom, on the alleged miracles and, eventually, on the old devotion of the Servant of God for whom Canonization is requested.”
Art. 2, 5: “The investigation on the alleged miracles must be made separately to that on the virtues, on the offering of life and on martyrdom.”
Art. 7, 1: “Study the causes entrusted to them with outside collaborators and prepare the Positions on the virtues, on the offering of life or on martyrdom.”
Art. 13, 2: If the Congress judges that the cause was instructed according to the norms of law, it will establish to entrust it to one of the Rapporteurs; the Rapporteur, in turn, aided by an outside collaborator, will do the Positio on the virtues, on the offering of life and on the martyrdom, according to the rules of the hagiographic critique.
Art. 6: The following articles of Normae Servandae in Inquisitionibus ab Episcopis Facendis in Causis Sanctorum mentioned have been modified thus:
Art. 7: “The cause can be recent or old: it is said recent if the martyrdom, the virtues or the offering of life of the Servant of God can be proved through the oral depositions of eyewitnesses; it is said old when the proofs relative to martyrdom or to virtues can only be drawn from written sources.”
Art. 10, 1: “In recent or old causes, a biography of a certain historical value on the Servant of God, if it exists or, if it does not exist, a precise chronological report on the life and activities of the Servant of God, on the virtues, or on the offering of life or on the martyrdom, on the reputation of holiness and of miracles, without omitting what seems contrary or less favourable to the cause itself.”
Art. 10, 3: “In recent causes only, a list of persons that can contribute to explore the truth on the virtues or on the offering of life or on the martyrdom of the Servant of God, as well as his reputation of holiness and of miracles, or opposed to them.”
Art. 15, a: “Once the report has been received, the Bishop must send to the Promoter of justice or to another expert everything that was acquired up to this moment, so that he can prepare useful questions to carry out the investigation and bring to light the truth on the life, the virtues, the offering of life or the martyrdom, the reputation for holiness, of the offering of life or of the martyrdom of the Servant of God.”
Art 15, b: “In old causes, the questions must only concern the reputation for holiness, the offering of life or the martyrdom still present and, if it is the case, the devotion rendered to the Servant of God in more recent times.”
Art. 19: “To prove martyrdom, the exercise of virtues or the offering of life and the reputation of miracles of a Servant of God who belonged to an Institute of Consecrated Life, the witnesses present must be, to a great extent, outsiders, unless that is impossible, by reason of the particular life of the Servant of God.”
Art. 32: “The investigation on the miracles must be instructed separately from the investigation on the virtues and on the offering of life or on the martyrdom and must unfold according to the following norms.”
Art. 36: “Prohibited in churches are the celebrations of any type or the panegyrics on the Servants of God whose holiness of life is still subject to a legitimate examination. But also outside the church, it is necessary to abstain from acts that could induce the faithful to consider wrongly that the investigation, carried out by the Bishop on the life and the virtues, on the martyrdom or on the offering of life of the Servant of God, implies the certitude of the future Canonization of the Servant of God in question.”
I order that all that I have ruled by this Apostolic Letter under the form of a Motu Proprio be observed in all its parts, despite anything to the contrary, even worthy of a particular mention, and I establish that it be promulgated through publication in the daily L’Osservatore Romano, coming into force the same day of the promulgation and that it then be inserted in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on July 11, the fifth of our Pontificate.

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)