Canonisation

PATH TO CANONISATION

On August 4, 1909 Cardinal Moran visited Mary MacKillop as she was preparing for death.  He gave her his blessing and words of encouragement.  As he left he said, “I consider I have this day assisted at the deathbed of a saint”.  Mary, known as Mary of the Cross, died a few days later on August 8, 1909.  Her funeral Mass was celebrated on August 11 and it is said that people vied with each other to touch her body with rosaries and other pious objects, a practice very unusual in Australia. Even more unusual was the souveniring of samples of earth from her grave when she was laid to rest at Gore Hill.  In fact, people recognised that she was a holy person.  From that time the faithful have never ceased to regard her as a saint.  Her remains are now in the Mary MacKillop Memorial chapel at North Sydney. 

How then did she come to be canonised?  The Church does not make the saint – it recognises the saint.  This recognition is encapsulated in the process of canonisation.  Canonisation is the act by which the Holy Father declares in a definitive and solemn way that a Catholic Christian is actually in the glory of heaven, intercedes for us before the Lord and is to be  publicly venerated by the whole Church.

In the early 1920s Mother Lawrence, Superior General of the Josephites, discussed with the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Cattaneo, the procedure to be followed in working towards Mother Mary’s canonisation.  Sydney’s Archbishop Kelly agreed to proceed, officials were appointed, tribunals were set up, and a long and toilsome journey was begun. It proved to be beset with obstacles, not unlike Mary’s own life.  Between November 1925 and March 1926 the Tribunal had conducted eight sessions interrogating witnesses who could give testimony relating to what they knew of Mary MacKillop.  For many reasons the process was halted in 1931 and was resumed in 1951 when Cardinal Gilroy urged the continuing of the Cause. 

Finally, the formal introduction of the Cause was announced during the Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne in 1973. The Cardinal of Cracow, Karol Wotyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was present on that occasion. This may have been his first introduction to the person he was to declare Blessed Mary of the Cross at Randwick in January 1995.

To arrive at Beatification, with the title, Blessed, there had to be scrutiny of the life, writings and memories of those who had known her and the proof that, at least one miracle could be ascribed to her intercession.  In one sense miracles are commonplace, every day events, performed by God after intercession by the saintly in heaven.  There are many examples in everyday life but the one needed for beatification and canonisation needs to meet the criteria set by the Vatican.

A miracle has two components: a medical and theological one.

The subject of a miracle is usually an organic illness so that there can be scientific proof.  Psychological and other conditions are too difficult to prove in a scientific manner even though there may be many such “miracles”.  To be recognised as a miracle a cure must be inexplicable by scientific means.  The proofs can be anecdotal as well as documentary.  Six questions need to be answered for a cure to be recognised as a miracle:

• The diagnosis: did the person really have the illness?  How was the diagnosis made?  This requires both testimony from medical experts and results from medical studies eg X-rays, MRI and scans.
• The cure: is there evidence that, at another time, the illness was gone?
• Is there proof that the cure was not brought about by medical or surgical means?
• Is there proof that it was morally instantaneous, that is, outside the normal curative process?
• Is there proof that the cure is complete?
• Is there proof that the cure is permanent

Medical records and testimony from medical experts are a necessary part of the documentation. 

The theological aspect is concerned with the testimony regarding the invocation of the Servant of God, the title given to the person whose Cause for beatification is being studied. 

When a cure is identified as a possible miracle and preliminary inquiries show that the likelihood of a medical cure was slight or non-existent, the bishop of the diocese where the cure occurred establishes a very carefully designed inquiry which includes both medical and theological aspects.

When the sworn documents from the inquiry, both medical and theological, are studied in Rome  the cure may be declared a miracle and the person, whose holiness has been established by the studies of her life and writings, will be declared blessed.  This means she is a saint for the local area. Mary MacKillop is officially a saint for Australia.

Canonisation recognises the person as a saint for the whole world. Already there is evidence that people from all continents have remarkable devotion to Blessed Mary MacKillop.  Canonisation requires a second miracle.  When a suitable cure is identified the study proceeds in the same manner as for the first miracle.  All the documents are sent to Rome where there follows a slow and detailed process.