Aug. 1, 2005 -- Exactly five years since the death of President Corazon C. Aquino. Will a formal canonical process for her sainthood be introduced? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cory sainthood? Wait 3 years, says bishop August 08, 2009 05:43:00 Yolanda Sotelo Philippine Daily Inquirer DAGUPAN CITY — Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz Friday said people proposing the sainthood of the late former President Corazon Aquino should wait for one to three years before pushing for it. Cruz, a former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said this was a reasonable wait before an application for Aquino’s sainthood could be filed with the Vatican. “For the Church, everybody can be a candidate for beatification and canonization, depending on the fame, honor and moral standing of the person before the community,” he said. But the Catholic Church is “strict, meticulous and very careful” in the long and tedious process of beatification and, possibly, canonization, Cruz said. He said it was the bishop of the diocese where the concerned person was a parishioner who would file the application for sainthood. Since Aquino lived in Quezon City, the task will fall on Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioko. Next step “If after one to three years from now, Bishop Ongtioko hears consistent and insistent voices raised for sainthood of Cory, on a personal level, he can gather testimonies from her friends, relatives and those who know personally something about the life and virtues of Tita Cory. He will present [these] to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican,” Cruz said. The congregation will do either of two things: Tell Ongtioko to stop because, based on testimony, the process cannot prosper, or tell him to get more testimonials, both favorable and unfavorable, for the person concerned. The bishop will submit the testimonials to the CBCP, which can either junk the application or get more testimony for or against the applicant, Cruz said. “The application for sainthood is now official. After submission to the congregation, the formal process starts,” Cruz said. Virtues, weaknesses A tribunal composed of three to five judges-priests studies the case. It may require more information from the CBCP or the bishop of Quezon City about the applicant. If the tribunal approves the application, the theological office of the congregation will study the virtues and weaknesses of the person concerned. The office will then require the performance of two miracles, “through the intercession of the person after his or her death.” No doctors, no medicine “Usually, the miracles are two cases of healing with the patients healed because of devotion to the dead person. Example is being healed after kissing the dead person’s tomb,” Cruz said. Cruz said the healed patient “should not have taken any medicine at all, did not see a doctor at all and it should be instant healing.” The patients will be subjected to medical examinations and tests by theologians, Cruz said. If the person being proposed for sainthood passes these tests, he or she is beatified, a step closer to full sainthood. If supporters of the person concerned wants him or her canonized (which means he or she officially becomes a saint and his or her images are displayed in churches and venerated), “another round of similarly long, tedious and meticulous process” will be undertaken, Cruz said. Humble, prayerful Cruz said he has no problem with Aquino’s name being submitted for sainthood. “I think she was a prayerful woman, a very humble lady and a very honest one,” Cruz said. He recalled being asked to celebrate Mass at the City of San Fernando cathedral in Pampanga when Aquino was still deciding whether to run for the snap election in 1986. “The Mass was very solemn. I took the risk of allowing her to speak from the pulpit. When she started to speak, the people began to chant, ‘Cory, Cory, Cory,’ and brought out their banners,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I will be reprimanded by church authorities. I was not, so I held a similar Mass again,” Cruz said. Copyright 2014 INQUIRER.net and content partners. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 15:49:52 +0000
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