Fr Pedro Arrupe Jesuit gets green light on sainthood cause
The sainthood cause of Jesuit Fr Pedro Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St John Lateran on February 5, the 28th anniversary of Fr Arrupe’s death.
The cause of Fr Arrupe, superior general of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983, was set in motion by the Diocese of Rome, the diocese where the former superior general died in 1991.
The formal process of beatification and canonisation includes compiling the priest’s writings and gathering sworn testimonies about his life and holiness. Once the Jesuit postulator had the list of potential witnesses and had collected the writings, the formal opening of Fr Arrupe’s sainthood cause – the diocesan inquiry – can begin.
The documentation from the diocesan inquiry will be sent to the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes, which reviews the gathered information. If he is found to have led a heroic life of Christian virtues, the Church bestows the title “venerable”.
The next steps would be beatification and canonisation. In general, two miracles determined to have occurred through the candidate’s intercession are needed for sainthood – one for beatification and the second for canonisation.
Church approves St Paul VI feast day
Having considered the holiness of St Paul VI and the influence of his ministry for the Church worldwide, Pope Francis has approved putting the saint on the Church’s universal calendar of feast days as an optional – not obligatory – memorial.
The celebration of the late Pope is May 29 on the General Roman Calendar, the universal schedule of holy days and feast days for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.
On February 6, the Vatican published the decree, issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments on January 25, the feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the apostle.
Pope Francis, who canonised Paul VI in October 2018, approved the optional memorial in light of “the petitions and desires of the people of God”, said the decree, signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah and Archbishop Arthur Roche, the congregation’s prefect and secretary, respectively. It said Pope Francis “considered this Pope’s holiness of life, witnessed to by his works and words” and took into account “the great influence of his apostolic ministry for the church throughout the whole world”.
Be shepherds of your flock, Pope tells pastors
Those who proclaim the Gospel must embrace humility and poverty to give an authentic witness to faith and not use others to climb the ladder of success, Pope Francis said.
Just as Jesus sent the apostles out to preach telling them to take nothing but a walking stick, Jesus wants pastors to be shepherds who feed their flock and “do not try to take the milk of the sheep, who do not try to take the wool of the sheep”, the Pope said in his homily during Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
Recalling St Augustine’s warning to pastors about feeding themselves rather than their flocks, the Pope said that one who looks for milk is “seeking money and one who seeks wool likes to dress with the vanity of his office. He is a climber”.
“If an apostle, an envoy, one of us – there are many of us envoys here – goes around with his nose in the air a bit, believing himself superior to others or looking for some form of human gain or, I don’t know, looking for a position in the Church, he will never heal anyone, he will never be able to open anyone’s heart, because his word will have no authority,” Francis said.