(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.)
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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.
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(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.)
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“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.
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