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Canonization is a
papal declaration that the person is in Heaven, i.e., is certainly
with God in glory. As a result the newly canonized person (now
elevated to the honors of the altar by the official proclamation of
the visible head of the Church Militant) now receives the public
veneration by the faithful throughout the Universal Church. This honor
and cult of veneration involves the faithful's petitioning the Saint
to intercede for them with God.
Every person who
reaches Heaven is, of course, a Saint, but in the long history of the
Church a relative few have been declared a Saint by the process of
Canonization conducted by the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of
Saints. It is this Congregation which conducts a rigorous and
exhaustive investigation into the heroic virtues of the candidate for
Sainthood and the miracles attributed to him or her.
In the early Church,
martyrs, confessors, virgins, widows and others of the Christian
faithful who had a reputation or holiness were acclaimed Saints by
the decision of a bishop who added them to his local church's
Calendar of Saints, or who were regarded as Saints by the popular
esteem and enthusiasm of the faithful. Such "popular canonization"
resulted in local patron saints whose Feasts were not celebrated
throughout the Universal Church. When a more formal process of
canonization was begun by the Pope himself in the 10th century, it
was now possible to proclaim a Saint for the entire Church.
Pope Alexander III in
1170 decreed that no one could be venerated as a Saint of the
Universal Church without Papal canonization. A distinction also
began to be made in the 13th c. between Beatification and
Canonization by the canonists of the time. Beatification would
differ from Canonization by the Blessed's receiving permission to be
venerated by the faithful of a particular diocese, province, or
religious order whereas Canonization resulted in a cultus of
veneration which was universal and obligatory. Canonization also had
the advantage of being an "ex cathedra" infallible judgment from the
Chair of Peter involving the infallibility of the Church.
It was in June 1950
that St. Maria Goretti was canonized by Pope Pius XII before the
largest throng of people- over 200,000- ever to attend a
canonization ceremony. It was also the first time in history that a
mother (Assunta Goretti) was present for the canonization of her own
daughter! With her canonization, as in every other canonization, the
Catholic People of God were assured with absolute and infallible
certainty that the little country girl not yet 12 years of age was
living in the glory of Heaven and seeing the Holy Trinity in the
Beatific Vision, face-to face,
Most theologians and
canonists, past and present, have regarded Papal canonization as the
exercise of Papal infallibility in faith and morals. This is the
charism whereby the Pope as the Successor of Peter and heir of his
special prerogatives as Rock of the Church, Bearer of the Keys,
Confirmer of his brethren, and Chief Pastor of the Church
commissioned to shepherd all the lambs and sheep of Christ-exercises
his function as Chief Teacher of the Universal Church. In his
important treatise "The Church" (Notre Dame Institute Press,
Middleburg, VA, 1973), theologian Fr. Emmanuel Doronzo has
explained:
"Canonization is an
object of the infallibility of the Church, as a dogmatic fact
connected with Revelation...If the Church were not infallible
about doctrinal facts [such as] canonization of Saints, it could
propose to the faithful something to be done or held which is
opposed to the revealed truth...In canonization, the Church
definitively declares that a person has led a holy life in harmony
with the evangelical principles of perfection, that he or she is
in Heaven, and that he or she can be an object of cult, of prayer,
and imitation." (pp. 138-139; 279)
There is no question
that the Popes in canonizing Saints have invariably believed and
asserted that the decision in canonizing a Saint is an infallible
judgment "from the Chair of Peter".
The heroic
virgin-martyr St. Maria Goretti (1890-1902) was beatified by Pope
Pius XII on April 27, 1947 and canonized by the same Supreme Pontiff
on June 25, 1950. Her canonization was the Church's response to the
hundreds of thousands throughout Italy and the Catholic world
acclaiming her sanctity: "Maria Goretti is our new St. Agnes. She is
in Heaven".
In the 1947 Decree of
Beatification of the Congregation of Rites (a section of which was
transformed in 1969 into the Congregation for the Causes of Saints),
we read the following concerning the heroic virtue of the young girl
who died after being stabbed 14 times by the would-be rapist, 18
year old Alessandro Serenelli :
"Never has there been
a time when the palm of martyrdom was missing from the shining robes
of the Spouse of Christ [the Church]. Even today in our very
degraded and unclean world there are brief examples of unearthly
beauty. The greatest of all triumphs is surely the one which is
gained by the sacrifice of one's life, a victory made holy by the
blood-red garments of martyrdom. When, however, the martyr is a
child of tender age with the natural timidity of the weaker sex such
a martyrdom rises to the sublime heights of glory.
This is what happened
in the case of Maria Goretti, a poor little girl and yet very
wonderful. She was a Roman country maid who did not hesitate to
struggle and to suffer, to shed her life's blood and to die with
heroic courage in order to keep herself pure and to preserve the
lily-white flowers of her virginity. We can justly say of her what
St. Ambrose said about St. Agnes: 'Man must marvel, children take
courage, wives must wonder and maids must imitate.' These words are
true indeed: 'The father of a saintly child may well jump for joy.
All honor to the father and the mother. Happy the mother that gave
thee birth' (Proverbs 23)."
Thrice happy maid,
you are now rejoicing with your father in Heaven while your mother
rejoices with us on earth like the happy mother of the angelic
youth, Aloysius. So also let Italy, your Motherland, rejoice,
smiling once more through her tears as she reads the motto which you
have written for her in childish letters of brilliant white and
gold: 'Brave and Beautiful' (Proverbs 31).
Italian girls
especially in the fair flower of their youth should raise their eyes
to Heaven and gaze upon this shining example of maidenly virtue
which rose from the midst of wickedness as a light shines indarkness.
We call her a model and protector. God is wonderful in His Saints!"
He sets them before us as examples as well as patrons. How He has
given to the young girls of our cruel and degraded world a model and
protector, the little maid Maria who sanctified the opening of our
century with her innocent blood."
In his Homily for the Beatification, Pius XII elaborated further on
why the Church was declaring Maria Goretti a Blessed servant of God.
It was for her heroic virtue in preferring to sacrifice her life
rather than commit a sin against the holy virtue of purity:
"Maria Goretti
resembled St. Agnes in her characteristic virtue of Fortitude.
This virtue of Fortitude is at the same time the safeguard as well
as the fruit of virginity. Our new beata was strong and wise and
fully aware of her dignity. That is why she professed death before
sin. She was not twelve years of age when she shed her blood as a
martyr, nevertheless what foresight, what energy she showed when
aware of danger! She was on the watch day and night to defend her
chastity, making use of all the means at her disposal, persevering
in prayer and entrusting the lily of her purity to the special
protection of Mary, the Virgin of virgins. Let us admire the
fortitude of the pure of heart. It is a mysterious strength far
above the limits of human nature and even above ordinary Christian
virtue."
In words applicable
to the parents of today often tempted to neglect the spiritual
welfare and discipline of their children, the Pope noted: "There are
many other generous and pure souls like Maria Goretti, but the
number would still be greater if only parents would exercise greater
watchfulness over their children and encourage them to a more
trusting obedience."
The cry of the young
virgin-martyr has resounded through the 20th century and into our
own: "No, it is a sin. God does not want it!" St. Maria Goretti was
beatified and canonized by the Church in response to a world's
becoming awash in a sea of sexual immorality. Pius XII had lived
through and suffered during the unleashed violence and genocide of
two World Wars which would shatter the moral fabric of Western
civilization. The rapid deChristianization of Western nations viewed
today was accompanied by a corruption of sexual morals that is even
worse than in the days of Pius XII. We are deluged by the sexually
suggestive, the lecherous, the obscene, and the vulgar in countless
movies, TV programs and commercials; there is the blatantly
pornographic on the Internet. "Adult Book and Video stores" abound
in our cities and along our highways. Calculated invitations to
sexual immorality are found in posters, billboards, magazines and
newspapers.
Our youth are beset
by a torrential flow of moral dirt and filth in all forms of media
and even their schools are not immune from instruction in
promiscuity, marital infidelity, and perversion. The widespread
propaganda for divorce, contraception, abortion, homosexuality, and
population control in American society signify an assault on
marriage and family life and the Christian understanding of
sexuality that is unparalleled since the days of ancient paganism.
Sociological surveys trumpet the statistics of the anti-baby
mentality that has been furthered by popularized contraception and
the massive killing of unborn children disposed as trash in
dumpsters. Then, too, there is the number of abandoned and
fatherless children, and the heinous increase in child molestation
and physical abuse of children, and crimes of rape and murder. One
observer has written, "Ours is a culture of rejection: an
increasingly hostile place for children to live." What Pius XII
foresaw prophetically has come to pass: the increasing rejection of
Christianity and its norms for human behavior. It is not surprising
that this great Pontiff is being presently maligned and calumniated
by those who must be regarded as sworn enemies of the Church.
A few days before his
death at the age of 88, Alessandro Serenelli who at the age of 18
had tried to rape Maria Goretti, and who later acknowledged that his
repentance was due to her heavenly intercession, was asked if he had
any advice to give to the youth of his day (this was the year 1970).
He wrote the following words which have not lost their immediacy:
"I sincerely ask
pardon of God and of the entire world for the crime which I
committed against the martyr, Maria Goretti, and against purity.
With all my heart I plead with you to avoid all immoral literature
and shows, and whatever else will lead you into sins of impurity."
Alessandro would
often repeat besides the picture of his victim: "I killed a saint,
and now after 69 years of penance and prayer, by God's mercy I am
going to join her in Heaven."
Pope John Paul II has
often commented on the virtues and example of St. Maria Goretti. In
a Homily commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the virgin-martyr's
birth, he emphasized her importance for our own troubled times:
"She did not flee
from the voice of the Holy Spirit, from the voice of her
conscience. She rather chose death. Through the gift of fortitude
the Holy Spirit helped her to 'judge"- and to choose with her
young spirit. She chose death when there was no other way to
defend her virginal purity. Maria Goretti's blood, shed in a
sacrifice of total fidelity to God, reminds us that we are also
called to offer ourselves to the Father. We are called to fulfill
the divine will in order to be found holy and pleasing in His
sight. Our call to holiness, which is the vocation of every
baptized person, is encouraged by the example of this young
martyr.
Look at her especially, adolescents and young people. Like her, be
capable of defending your purity of heart and body; be committed
to the struggle against evil and sin, nourishing your communion
with the Lord through prayer, the daily practice of mortification,
and scrupulously observing the commandments. Do not be afraid to
take a counter-cultural stance, to reject the world's idols when
it is a question of courageously witnessing by your lives that you
belong to a chaste and poor Christ. Always esteem and love purity
and virginity.
"In her silent
heroism, Maria Goretti is a teacher of truth, consistency, and
true love. She teaches us to rediscover in Christ the value of the
truth which frees the human being from the slavery to material
realities, to cultivate a taste for authentic beauty and the good
which overcomes evil.
"Today, we thank
the Blessed Trinity for this young life, and for the martyrdom
which crowned it. Through her life and heroic death, the Son of
man was glorified at the beginning of our century. 'Blessed be God
in His Saints'." (L'Osservatore Romano- English ed.,
10/7/91)
In his beautiful
Homily, Pope John Paul II may be said to have summarized once again
why the Catholic Church has canonized "a simple country girl who was
born poor". It was for her deep faith in Christ, for her ardent love
of Christ and His Virgin-Mother, for her fervent witness to the
Gospel-virtue of purity, and for her heroic fortitude in preferring
death rather than to commit sin in submitting to molestation and
rape. For all these reasons the Church of Christ has honored her as
a "virgin-martyr". To anyone who would question her designation as a
martyr, the Church replies with the words of her greatest Doctor,
St. Thomas Aquinas:
"Not only is he a martyr one who refuses to deny a truth of the
faith, but he who dies for the sake of some virtue, or to avoid sin
against any commandment."
In what has been
termed "the modern world's conspiracy against morality", St. Maria
Goretti's example remains a magnificent witness to Christian truth.
The Church assures us that her heavenly intercession is powerful
before the throne of the Lamb of God. When she cried out to
Alessandro, "No, it is a sin! God does not want it! You'll go to
Hell!", she spoke as a teacher of the faith, reminding all those who
are too eager to deny the reality of sin of yet another truth of the
Gospel: namely, the possibility of eternal damnation.
An American
biographer of St. Maria Goretti has fittingly corrected a
misunderstanding of the Saint that has been made by those seeking to
"limit the Saint's influence over the hearts of the young":
"What the Church
raises in her is not, it must be noted, the glory of freely chosen
perpetual virginity which is the offering of religious consecrated
to God. Assunta Goretti, who taught Maria to love the virtue of
purity, probably had no other plan for her eldest daughter than that
she, too, when she was a few years older, should marry a good
husband and bring up a Christian family. If Maria thought of such
things, she also, probably, expected that her life would be like her
mother's.
"....In what we know
of Maria' upbringing, we can easily see that it is this kind of
purity Assunta Goretti taught her daughter. The child was pious in a
mature, balanced, sensible, loving way- not in a sentimental or soft
or scrupulous way. From her early childhood, she faced hardship. She
had before her the example of affectionate Christian parents,
devoted to each other and to their children, and faithful to their
religious responsibilities. When her temptation came, she resisted
it absolutely, and with a superhuman fortitude which only grace
could sustain.
"Yet she was so human
and so aware of others that she could see in the terrible incident
more Alessandro's danger than her own. Her cry, 'You'll go to Hell!'
was a warning, not a threat, as we must see in her [deathbed] pardon
of her assassin, which was free and unforced despite the atrocious
suffering she was still enduring because of him. She was, even not
yet 12, a valiant woman."
(C.E. Maguire, "Saint
Maria Goretti, Martyr of Purity", N.Y: Catholic Book Publishing Co.,
1950)
St. Maria Goretti was
indeed a "valiant woman" in the biblical sense of a woman faithful
to God and who was willing to live and die for Him.
Her innocent blood
bore witness to her total fidelity to Christ and His Gospel, and
continues to do so today with regard to virtues which are more
needed today than ever. It is for that witness that the Church has
canonized her and calls upon us to ask for her heavenly intercession
to assist both young and old in the stormy pilgrimage of this life.
In her martyrdom we hear the echo of Our Divine Lord's words: "He
who does not take up his Cross and follow Me, is not worthy of Me.
He who finds his life shall lose it; and he who loses his life for
My sake, will find it." (Matt. 10: 38f.)
JAMES LIKOUDIS
president emeritus, Catholics United for the Faith (CUF)
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