The Cause for Beatification
and Canonisation
The process of beatification and canonisation follows a strict protocol. Typically, the process cannot commence until five years after the holy person’s death. The Bishop of the local diocese (the church administrative district) in which the individual died petitions the Holy See (the holy seat or throne in Rome) to begin the Cause for Beatification and Canonisation. Once approved, the official permission to begin—the nihil obstat (“nothing obstructs”)—is communicated to the initiating Bishop.
Beatification literally means “to make blessed” (from beatus, “blessed” + facere, “to make”). In the Catholic Church it refers to the official recognition of a deceased person’s entry into heaven and their ability to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in the name of the blessed. Latin Beatus has the further meanings of “prosperous, fortunate, blissful”, indicating the nature of the beatific vision and salvation attained by the blessed. More specifically, the visio beatifica indicates the direct experience and knowledge of god realised through heavenly attainment, and corresponds closely to the Eastern Orthodox doctrine of theōsis (deification). According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC):
God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us “partakers of the divine nature” and of eternal life (2 Pet 1:4; cf. Jn 17:3). With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ (Cf. Rom 8:18) and into the joy of the Trinitarian life. (CCC 1721).
Canonisation is the recognition by the Apostolic See in Rome that the beatified saint can be venerated not just locally but universally. Whereas beatification gives permission for local veneration, canonisation makes it a universal precept. A canonised Saint is able to be venerated in the Ritus Romanus, the principle liturgical rite of the Catholic Church.
The process has seven steps
Cause
Servant of God
Venerable First Miracle
First Miracle
Blessed (Beatification)
Second Miracle
Saint (Canonisation)
Once the Cause is approved, the formal investigation begins, and a diocesan tribunal is formed. According to the Vatican: “Witnesses are called before the tribunal to recount concrete facts on the exercise of Christian virtues considered heroic, that is, the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity, and the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, and others specific to their state in life. In addition, all documents regarding the candidate must be gathered. At this point he [or she] is entitled to the title of Servant of God”. (Vatican City, September 12, 1997 [VIS]).
A Postulator is appointed to oversee the Cause through the judiciary processes of the Catholic Church. The current Postulator for Mother Aubert’s Cause is Father Maurice Carmody, who was appointed in 2007. The Postulator is responsible for gathering and editing the material for the Positio, a comprehensive research document designed to verify that the prospective saint lead a life of virtue. In addition to the results of the disocesan tribunal, it contains all the information that has been gathered on the life and work of the prospective saint. Mother Aubert’s Positio totalled over 800 pages, and was sent to the Vatican for approval in 2012.
Current Status
The Cause for Aubert’s beatification and canonisation officially began in 2004, but it was preceded by decades of preparation which culminated in 1997 when the “Introduction of the Cause of Suzanne Aubert” was supported by the New Zealand Bishops’ Conference.
In 2007, Father Maurice Carmody, a priest of the Archdiocese of Wellington, was appointed as the Roman Postulator for Aubert’s Cause. As Postulator, he is responsible for guiding the Cause through the judiciary processes of the Catholic Church.
In 2012, after years of collaborative research undertaken by Father Carmody, Sister Margaret Anne Mills, and Sister Josephine Gorman, an 800-page Positio was completed. The Positio is the sum of collected evidence gathered on a prospective Saint’s life and work, which is sent to the Vatican to support the Cause for Sainthood.
In 2013, three bound copies of the Positio were sent to Rome, and the Vatican accepted the evidence that it provided and granted Aubert the status of “Servant of God”.
In December 2016, Pope Francis formally acknowledged that “the Servant of God, Mary Joseph Aubert” was a woman of heroic virtue and therefore worthy of the title “Venerable”.
As of February 2020, we are still awaiting the recognition of Mother Aubert’s miracles. We encourage anyone who has received her intercession to present their story to the Postulate.