Making Saints: How The Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes A Saint, Who Doesn'T, And WhyFrom inside the Vatican, the book that became a modern classic on sainthood in the Catholic Church. Working from church documents, Kenneth Woodward shows how saint-makers decide who is worthy of the church's highest honor. He describes the investigations into lives of candidates, explains how claims for miracles are approved or rejected, and reveals the role politics -- papal and secular -- plays in the ultimate decision. From his examination of such controversial candidates as Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador and Edith Stein, a Jewish philosopher who became a nun and was gassed at Auschwitz, to his insights into the changes Pope John Paul II has instituted, Woodward opens the door on a 2,000-year-old tradition. |
Contents
Preface | 3 |
The Local Politics of Sainthood | 21 |
2 | 62 |
3 | 119 |
The Witness of Martyrs | 127 |
5 | 156 |
6 | 172 |
The Science of Miracles and | 191 |
8 | 251 |
9 | 280 |
ΙΟ | 309 |
Sanctity and Sexuality | 336 |
12 | 353 |
The Future of Sainthood | 374 |
Notes | 424 |
Selected Bibliography | 431 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alexandrina American Archbishop argues asked beatification bishops Blessed candidate candidate's canonization process Cardinal Carmelite Catholic Church Causes of Saints century Christ Christian congregation congregation's consultors Cornelia Connelly critical cult death declared died divine documents Dorothy Day Edith Stein Escrivá Eszer example fact faith Father grace Gumpel heroic virtue ibid intercession Jesuit Jesus Jews John Paul John Paul II judges judgment Katharine Drexel lives Martin martyr martyrdom miracles Molinari moral Mother Drexel Mother Katharine mystical Nazis Newman officials Opus Opus Dei Padre Pio Palazzini papal infallibility pastoral Pierce Pio Nono Pius XII political pontificate Pope John Pope Pius IX pope's positio postulator prayer priests reform relics religious orders reputation for holiness Roman Catholic Rome Romero saint-making process sainthood Salvadoran sanctity Servant sisters Snider spiritual story Teresa of Ávila testimony theologians theological tion Titus Brandsma Vatican Council Vatican Council II veneration witnesses writings York