Would you ever get up to sing a song if you didn\u2019t know the words?\u00a0 Some people do when they\u2019re drunk!\u00a0 Would you ever repeat a rumor if you didn\u2019t know it was true?\u00a0 Some political spin doctors do to improve their candidate\u2019s position!\u00a0 Would you ever report something as fact if you didn\u2019t know what you were talking about?\u00a0 Some fools do to create a reaction or enhance their name!\u00a0 The saddest part is that if they repeat a falsehood loud enough, often enough and from a legitimate platform, like a credible newspaper, there are those who will believe it and carry it further; these are the ones who subscribe to the theory, if it\u2019s in the paper, it must be true.\u00a0 A case in point is now in the wind and we must stop it before it\u2019s carried further than it has already gone on the Internet, facebook, etc.<\/p>\n
In the January 30 edition of well-known Irish paper, a staff writer named Kelly wrote the incredible headline: Beloved Saint Patrick is not officially a saint.\u00a0 She followed that with the statement that the Church never canonized him but Facebook might, referring to a Facebook effort by a bunch of whackos calling for a write-in campaign to canonize St Patrick!\u00a0 They claim that our patron is a saint in name only and then, only to the Irish.\u00a0 The story is starting to spread for I\u2019ve seen it on other websites.\u00a0 You may see it in the run up to St Patrick\u2019s Day so I prepared this rebuttal to use if you do hear it.<\/p>\n
As far as I can trace this current misinformation, it began with a freelance writer for the Catholic Herald in Virginia.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t been able to find the original story, so I don\u2019t know if the repeated version of the story was taken out of context or not.\u00a0 However, let me say for the record that St. Patrick was canonized, no matter what you may hear to the contrary.<\/p>\n
After 787 AD, all new churches had to have a relic before they could be consecrated so relics of recognized saints became collectible symbols of sanctity.\u00a0 This required verification that the relic was from a person who was, in fact, a saint.\u00a0 In the tenth century, the Holy See was asked to establish a procedure for ensuring recognition of sanctity.\u00a0 At first, only a Bishop could declare sainthood.\u00a0 Then in 1170, a formal decree was issued by Pope Alexander III restricting that authority to Rome.\u00a0 In 1173, the Pope even reprimanded a bishop for permitting veneration of a man who not a saint, saying, It is not lawful for you to venerate him as a saint without the authority of the Catholic Church.\u00a0 The procedure initiated by Alexander III was confirmed by a Papal Bull of Pope Innocent III in the year 1200.\u00a0 The process of canonization has become more elaborate over the years changing as recently as 1983 and 1997 and all of this information is available in the Catholic Encyclopedia!<\/p>\n
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the earliest procedure for canonization was part of a process called a Solemn Translation (Latin, elevatio corporis) of relics.\u00a0 It was the recognition of sanctity associated with\u00a0 the transfer of relics from one place to another and required formal inquiries into the sanctity of the person’s life as well as papal approval.<\/p>\n
In 1177, the Norman (Catholic) knight, John de Courcy, won control of eastern Ulster and built a new Monastery near the place where Saints Patrick, Brigid and Columcille had been buried to protect them from Viking raiders years earlier.\u00a0 When the bodies of the three great saints were found, deCourcy and Bishop Malachy applied to Pope Urban III for permission to remove the sacred remains, to an honorable position within the church.\u00a0 In accordance with the procedure established by his predecessor, an investigation was held and a Solemn Translation was approved.\u00a0 The procedure required verification of the individual\u2019s sanctity and an all-night vigil before moving the remains in caskets of gold and silver.\u00a0 The Pope sent a Cardinal named Vivian with a commission to direct the undertaking.\u00a0 On\u00a0 June 9, 1186, no less than 15 Bishops, many abbots and high dignitaries and a great gathering of clergy and laity witnessed the official Solemn Translation of the relics of St. Patrick, St. Columcille, and St. Brigid, at Downpatrick.\u00a0 According to the account in the Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland published in 1933, The ceremony was carried out with great pomp, some of the relics were enshrined and placed on the high Altar and some were brought back to Rome.\u00a0 Apparently the Church took this opportunity to retrieve a few relics to share with others wishing to venerate our patron saint, and appropriate shrine cases were made to house the relics.\u00a0 Most of St. Patrick\u2019s remains were re-interred at Downpatrick.<\/p>\n
So, there you have it.\u00a0 Documented evidence exists in many authentic sources that Saint Patrick was indeed formally canonized by the official ritual established by the Roman Catholic Church at the time!\u00a0 Granted that the canonization procedure has changed over the years, but I hope that no one thinks that all those who weren\u2019t formally canonized by today\u2019s procedure are not saints; after all what would Saint Peter say.\u00a0 As for the Church\u2019s position on those earlier \u2018saints\u2019 who died before the formal procedure, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes that since we don\u2019t pay homage to a relic, no dishonor is done to God by the continuance of reverence for a relic which has been handed down in perfectly good faith for centuries.<\/p>\n
However, I must add, if you see articles questioning St. Patrick\u2019s sainthood that are presently being circulated by the fools who wrote them or other amadons seeking a Paddy\u2019s Day reaction, make a copy of this article and give it to them.\u00a0 And remind them all that the difference between Paddy\u2019s Day and Saint Patrick\u2019s Day is the same as the difference between the office Christmas Party and Midnight Mass.\u00a0 The only thing they have in common is the date.\u00a0 It\u2019s your heritage \u2013 Defend It!<\/p>\n