 |
|
|
|
 Edward Flanagan, whom supporters are trying to make a saint, visiting Boys Town in 1942.
March 9th, 2012
10:23 PM ET
Case of Boys Town founder shows long road to making a saintBy Jen Christensen, CNN (CNN) - Surrounded by TV cameras and an excited crowd, the archbishop of Omaha, Nebraska, taped a notice to the doors of St. Cecilia’s Church last week announcing to the world that his archdiocese was launching a formal process to try to elevate one of its most famous members to Catholicism’s highest honor. Archbishop George Lucas wants the Vatican to recognize Father Edward J. Flanagan as a saint. As the founder of Boys Town – the famous Nebraska community for at-risk kids – Flanagan radically transformed how people handle troubled youth. He is known for the saying, “There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.” CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories But just because someone does good doesn’t entitle that person to be a saint, at least in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church. Many faiths have their saints, but attaining sainthood may be hardest in the Catholic Church. By posting a notice about Flanagan, the Omaha archdiocese is embarking on a complicated legal, scientific and surprisingly expensive journey that could take over 100 years to accomplish – if sainthood is achieved at all. “To be recognized as a saint these days, it may cost upwards of $1 million,” said Steven Wolf, the lead volunteer and president of the Father Flanagan League Society of Devotion. “You essentially need it to pay for a good lawyer and an expensive multi-media campaign.” Wolf’s organization grew out of a Boys Town alumni group that that came together some 13 years ago to make Flanagan’s case. The group has held monthly prayer meetings at Flanagan's tomb and leads pilgrimages to Boys Town to speak about his life and accomplishments. “You need splashy videos, a social media blitz, a website, prayer cards and podcasts, not to mention we need to find a couple of miracles,” Wolf said about the sainthood process. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.” In the early days of the church, achieving sainthood was easier. “Until the 13th century, beatification is a local matter and the devotion is the most significant part of the process,” said church historian Alberto Melloni.  Archbishop George Lucas posts a notice at St. Celia's Roman Catholic Church in Omaha to officially launch the campaign to Edward Flanagan a saint. If enough people thought you were a saint and prayed to you after your death, you became a saint. But that informal process left room for less-than-holy politicking and bribery on behalf of wannabe saints. Without much vetting, even some fictional characters became saints, including St. Christopher, who for centuries was revered as the patron saint of travelers. In 1969, the Catholic Church removed his saint day from its calendar because it couldn’t prove he ever existed. To avoid more St. Christophers, the church has over the years set down much more rigid rules for sainthood. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Flanagan, who died in 1948, easily met the first criterion for sainthood: being dead for at least five years. The next steps are more challenging. There needs to be spontaneous public support for someone to be placed in the canon of saints – a step known as canonization. Wolf says Flanagan’s candidacy has support in spades. “Right now, we can’t really get our arms around how many people are involved in praying for Father Flanagan’s intercession,” he said. “It’s not like you get a membership card.” But since launching a website in 2004 dedicated to making Flanagan a saint, Wolf’s group has heard from people in 36 states and nine countries seeking Flanagan’s help in finding a job, curing a relative’s cancer or saving an aunt who suffered an aneurysm. After spontaneous public support for a sainthood candidate is demonstrated, the bishop of the diocese where the candidate died needs to open a formal investigation. But Flanagan didn’t die in Omaha, where he did most of his work. He died of a heart attack while on a mission to Berlin on behalf of President Harry Truman, who had sent Flanagan to address the orphan crisis caused by World War II. Because Flanagan’s main base of support is in Omaha, advocates for his cause had to petition the Vatican to make an exception to the rule to allow them to lead the sainthood effort. The Vatican granted the rule change, clearing the way for the next step: The Omaha archdiocese must assemble a tribunal to gather evidence that Flanagan was truly holy. At a Mass at the Immaculate Conception Church at Boys Town this month, Flanagan will be named a “servant of God” and Lucas will set up the tribunal, which will interview witnesses about Flanagan’s virtue. If the tribunal rules in his favor, it will pass witness testimony – along with every piece of material written by Flanagan it can collect – to the Vatican. There, a lawyer called a postulator organizes the evidence and presents it in what the church calls a positio to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints. Flanagan’s group has already hired its postulator, a Rome-based lawyer who has become known in the Italian press as “the saint maker.” The lawyer, Andrea Ambrosi, says that 400 current saints have him to thank – in part, at least – for the honor. And he has a caseload of 30 more aspiring saints. Wolf hired Ambrosi to give Flanagan his best shot at sainthood. “We know of a cause in Michigan that’s been stuck for 60 years, and they’ve been through seven postulators,” Wolf said. “There are not a lot of people doing this sort of thing effectively. If you have any misstep you could be stuck forever.” Once Ambrosi assembles Flanagan’s positio, nine Catholic theologians examine the dossier. A majority vote among them advances the cause to Pope Benedict XVI, who can designate Flanagan as “venerable.” But the church also requires two miracles from the prospective saint after his or her death. Peter Gumpel, who scrutinized hundreds of cases of saints in his nearly 50 years as a “devil’s advocate,” fact-checking positios, explains that miracles essentially seal the deal. “A miracle is some extraordinary fact, especially in the medical field – a cure that nobody expected and suddenly against all expectations this person is cured,” he said. “Miracles are still required because the church has to be absolutely sure what we are doing in canonizing someone conforms to the will of God. To do this, we ask for a sign from God.” The public campaign for Flanagan has only just started, but Wolf says six people have contacted him to say they believe they’ve experienced a miracle by praying for Flanagan’s intercession. Wolf hopes at least one of the reported miracles will stand up to church scrutiny. Several local doctors will have to testify that there is no medical explanation for someone’s cure. The person who has been cured will have to testify, too. That testimony is scrutinized by top doctors and scientists hired by the Vatican – and examined by the pope – before it can be considered a miracle. At that point, a sainthood candidate is beatified. That’s what happened to Pope John Paul II last year, after the Vatican ruled that the case of a French nun who prayed to him and was cured of her Parkinson’s disease was a bona fide miracle. Then the whole miracle confirmation process begins again, with a second miracle that has transpired since beatification. “Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, it is expensive, but it is worth it,” Wolf said. The tribunal, the lawyer in Rome, and the travel required to press Flanagan’s case all cost money. But Wolf argues that the more people who know about Flanagan’s life and work, the more who will be helped by the priest, as he was. Wolf didn’t know Flanagan personally, but he is a 1980 graduate of Boys Town. Going there, he says, changed his life. “Before Boys Town, I spent time in runaway shelters,” he said. “I was locked up in juvenile detention. I didn’t have the best environment growing up,” he said. “But when I got to Boys Town, things changed.” Today, Wolf helps run a public affairs consulting firm and has five daughters. “Father Flanagan gave a damn about people like me – kids most people were ready to write off as losers – and it matters,” he said. “That man is a saint. I’ve been won over. I know others will be, too.”
Next entry »Pastor Mark Driscoll on marriage, sex
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
Only for the newbies:
Money wasted as the "vomit-inducing" ped-ophilia and coverup will simply hasten the decline of all religions as they finally go extinct from their own absurdity.. It is time to replace all religions with a few rules like "Do No Harm" and convert all houses of "worthless worship" to recreation facilities and parks.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If someone is a good man .. that's all that needs to be said. It does not make anyone any better to give them Oscars or plaques or to make them a saint or a cardinal or a blue jay or a white buffalo. Just being a great fellow is noteworthy in this 21st Century. There is a lot of malignant mankind on earth today. The good are a beacon of light (and of hope) .. a gem of nobility in an otherwise bleak mass of clay. Well I do also respect the CMOH .. so Sainthood is a worthy thing. But every drug addict in Hollywood has a golden figurine on their mantle - meaningless these days.
Not every priest is a pedophile, just like not every liberal is an id10t.
Apparently If you're anti religion, It makes you rant aimlessly for no reason other than to spread the hatred and uselessness of your own life.
Very few priests were pedophiles. It was not widespread. The big problem was the cover up (like Watergate). .. and that plays into the hands of detractors like many of the people on this BLOG..
Why did today's pope, prelates, preachers and rabbis, so focused on society's se-xual sins, lose sight of clerical se-xual sins?
"
FEAR, SHAME and GUILT and COVER IT ALL UP!!!
Obviously ordination in any religion is not assurance of good behavior !!!!!
Neither is coronation!!! e.g. Henry VIII, King David.
Neither is marriage as 50% of those men convicted of pedophilia are married.
Neither is being elected president of the USA!! e.g. Billy "I did not have se-x with that girl" Clinton, John "Marilyn Monroe" Kennedy".
Neither is possessing super athletic skill!!! e.g. Tiger "I am so sorry for getting caught" Woods.
Neither is being an atheist or pagan since pedophilia is present in all walks of life.
If someone is guilty of a crime in this litany of "neithers" they should or should have been penalized as the law dictates to include jail terms for pedophiliacs (priests, rabbis, evangelicals, boy scout leaders, married men/women, football coaches), divorce for adultery (Clinton, Kennedy, Woods), jail terms for obstruction of justice (Clinton, Cardinal Law) and the death penalty or life in prison for murder ("Kings" David and Henry VIII).
Christianity takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Christian prayer has been shown to have no discernible effect towards what was prayed for.
Christianity prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Christianity makes you fat.
Christianity wears out your clothes prematurely.
Christianity contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Christianity fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Christianity can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Christianity reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Christianity exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Christianity makes you think doilies are exciting.
Christianity makes you secretively flatulent and embarrassed about it.
Christianity makes your kids avoid spending time with you.
Christianity gives you knobbly knees.
Christianity makes you frothy like Rick Santorum. Just google him to find out.
Christianity makes you post really stupid shit.
Christianity makes you hoard cats.
Christianity makes you smell like shitty kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Christianity wastes time.
Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things. Need proof? See above.
"Prayer changes things"
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!!~
catholic engineer, Mudder Theresa has since been exposed as the nasty cruel beotch that she was, and there is a movement underway to revoke her prize.
They should have investigated that nasty old beotch Mudder Theresa a bit more thoroughly before trying to bestow that ti-tle on her. She actually worked to keep the poor and starving in a state of unenlightened misery. Very typical of your sicko religion.
Go here to read about the sick beotch that you are stupidly defending:
http://www.fitz-claridge.com/Articles/MotherTeresa.html
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
Prayer changes things .
Christianity takes people away from actually working on real solutions to their problems.
Christian prayer has been shown to have no discernible effect towards what was prayed for.
Christianity prevents you from getting badly needed exercise.
Christianity makes you fat.
Christianity wears out your clothes prematurely.
Christianity contributes to global warming through excess CO2 emissions.
Christianity fucks up your knees and your neck and your back.
Christianity can cause heart attacks, especially among the elderly.
Christianity reveals how stupid you are to the world.
Christianity exposes your backside to pervert priests.
Christianity makes you think doilies are exciting.
Christianity makes you secretively flatulent and embarrassed about it.
Christianity makes your kids avoid spending time with you.
Christianity gives you knobbly knees.
Christianity makes you frothy like Rick Santorum. Just google him to find out.
Christianity dulls your senses.
Christianity makes you post really stupid shit.
Christianity makes you hoard cats.
Christianity makes you smell like shitty kitty litter and leads you on to harder drugs.
Christianity wastes time.
Prayer changes things
Proven.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!!!~
"Prayer changes things
Proven"
You've been proven a LIAR over and over again.
Prayer really changes things
Proven
Powerful
Prayer changes things .
Proven
"Prayer changes things .
Proven"
You've been proven a LIAR over and over again.
no, why do you assume he was a ped.... that would be moronic.... i trying to find some scriptural reason for this who naming saints nonsense.... its just a mockery of what God intended the way i see it
Chief, I'm assuming he's NOT a ped. But there are lots of people who will want to believe that he is one. I was just sarcastically checking on progress in that direction.
There are millions of saints among the faithful. But thethe cannonized people are Saints. They are held up as examples of exceptional holiness. As a catholic, I was always discouraged from worshipping saints. Admittedly, some people are so devoted to some saints that it borders on blasphemy.
ha ha just poking at you about the ped angle.... i agree that there are those people that can be held up as examples.... you can even call them saints..... i dont subscribe to "if the cath church cannonized people are saints..." i think its a process of no merit and basically a joke in the eyes of God.... the whole 2 or 3 miricle thing... etc....
Is anyone desperately trying to find some pedophilia victims of this priest?