Adult and Youth Mercy Associates gathered in Birmingham on 4th October 2008 for a Conference to promote the Cause for Beatification of Venerable Catherine McAuley. Sister Brenda Dolphin, Postulator for the Cause of Canonisation of Venerable Catherine, was the key speaker on the day. The purpose of the day was for the Associates to be informed on the process of Canonisation of ‘Catherine of Dublin,’ highlight and share the influence of Catherine’s spirituality on their lives and to impact on the cause for Beatification.

Almost 400 Associates gathered from North, South, East and West of the United Kingdom and in no time the Burlington Hotel, Birmingham, was buzzing with Associates, eagerly anticipating what was to come and delighted to be meeting old friends and making new ones. The Hotel was abuzz with excitement and anticipation as the Associates gathered for a day packed with information, prayer and sharing.

Eileen Malone formally welcomed everyone and said how pleased Catherine McAuley would be to see so many enthusiastic associates and she might even be saying: ‘Hurrah for Associate Conferences, they make the old young and the young merry’. Quoting from the song ‘She is here, she is here, she is moving among us, she is here, she is here, as we gather in her name’, Eileen said Catherine was with us and would be moving among us during the day. As we ‘gathered in her name’, led by our Youth Associates and singing the Taize chant ’O Lord hear my prayer’, we moved into a short Morning Prayer, concluding with the Prayer for the Beatification of Venerable Catherine and the singing of The Suscipe.

Sister Brenda took us into the next phase of the day and informed us on the Process of Canonisation. She emphasised that the Church has great need of saints. The real innovators in the Church are the saints, holy people whose lives are dramatic with a humble and homely heroism. Holiness is found in day to day life. A saint is someone who offers so little resistance to the presence and the power of God, that God is able to pour himself freely into the person’s heart and fill it with Love. That Love flows out through the holy person’s hands to all those who have need in the world – the poor, the lonely, the sick, the homeless, the helpless, all who have need of God’s Love whatever shape or form that need takes.

One saint is worth a thousand theological concepts. We will always need theologians to interpret our experiences of the Divine mysteries. We need saints to help us embrace that mystery. Minds are moulded and hearts are moved not by abstractions but by models.

It is God who makes saints. The Church simply ratifies God’s handiwork and calls it to the attention of the faithful for their encouragement and veneration. When the Church declares that a person is a saint she is saying in effect that this person is with God, that his or her life is worth imitating and that she or he has the power to intercede with God on our behalf. It is the ordinary members of the faithful who bring to the attention of the institutional Church the fact that such and such a person has lived his/her life of Christian virtue in a way that goes beyond what would be expected of an ordinarily good person.

STAGES OF CANONISATION

There are three stages on the road to canonised sainthood in the Church. At stage one the life of the person, his/her actions, writings, interactions are all scrutinised and assembled in a work called the “Positio Super Virtutibus.” This “position paper” on the lived virtue of the Servant of God, tells of the life of the person and of how s/he lived Christian virtues to an heroic degree. Heroic virtue in the eyes of the Church has nothing to do with extraordinary signs like ecstasy or stigmata etc. What is looked for is how the person responded to God’s will in his/her life according to whatever state of life they lived e.g. married, single, religious.

Catherine McAuley herself said: “Since God’s power is not limited to time or space, we have the same means as the greatest saints had. God can effect in us what he accomplished in them. In fact to arrive at their sanctity requires no more than to simply perform our daily actions perseveringly and regularly for this is what constitutes a saint”.

Once a cause gets under way the person is called a ‘Servant of God’. When the necessary scrutiny of the person’s life has taken place and it is accepted that the person did live Christian virtue to an heroic degree the Pope declares the Servant of God, Venerable. (Catherine McAuley was declared Venerable by Pope John Paul II, on April 9th 1990).

The next stage in the process is the declaration of the person as Blessed. For beatification the Church requires one miracle. When a person is declared blessed s/he is proposed to the local Church for veneration and imitation. In the process of verifying that a miracle has occurred, through the intercession of a Servant of God, (for example Catherine McAuley), the Church follows a very specific and detailed process. It begins with the assurance that the case being studied meets a number of criteria:

An alleged cure must have two aspects:

1. The medical aspect:

• scientifically inexplicable
• instantaneous or at least healing takes place over a period of time that is outside what would be ordinarily expected
  for the illness in question (is not a spontaneous remission)
• complete
  
• lasting.
  

2. The theological aspect: the alleged cure takes place through the intercession of the Servant of God only.

The third stage is Canonisation and another such miracle is required. For canonisation, the same exigent process takes place as happens for the process of beatification. The canonised saint is presented to the universal church for veneration and imitation.

The history of Catherine’s process towards canonisation started in 1909 when Sr. Genevieve Burke, superior general of the Sisters of Mercy Dublin, Ireland at the time, launched a world wide crusade of prayer for the promotion of Catherine’s Cause. The political history of Ireland of the time is listed as the reason why the process did not move forward then. A request to restart the process was made in 1923 and again in 1937/38. Both these attempts failed to progress. An historical commission established to examine all documentary evidence began work on Catherine’s life and writings in 1954. In 1973 Sr. Angela Bolster took over the writing of the Positio Super Virtutibus. The presentation to and examination of the Positio by the Congregation for Causes resulted in Catherine being declared Venerable on the 9th of April 1990 by Pope John Paul II. Being declared Venerable, the first step on the road to canonisation, means that the Church formally recognises that the person has lived Christian values in a way that goes beyond what is expected of the ordinary good living person.

The present status of the Cause Constant reports come to the postulator and vice postulators about graces and favours received through Catherine McAuley’s intercession. A number of alleged cures have been reported but none have been found acceptable as a miracle to date. At present the postulator together with the vice postulators are working on alleged cures reported in the U.S. and in the Philippines.

A New Enthusiasm is expressed Immediately after Catherine was declared Venerable it seemed that interest in progressing Catherine’s Cause waned for some years. In the last number of years there has been a persistent renewal of interest in pursuing the Cause. This interest is expressed by Mercy Sisters and especially by Mercy Associates and Colleagues in Mercy ministries around the world. In order to capitalise on this energy MIA (Mercy International Association) established a committee of World Mercy Congregational Representatives (WMCRC) in 2005.

World Mercy Congregational Representative Committee (WMCRC) The purpose of this committee is to co-ordinate the work of progressing Catherine’s Cause in all parts of the world where Mercy Sisters and associates minister and beyond if possible. Sisters of Mercy who are members of this committee are Mary Duffy (Australia), Maria Villegas (Philippines), and Mary Hanrahan (New Zealand). Sheila Carney (Americas), Diane Smyth (Newfoundland), Anne Hannon (Ireland), Dolores Magee (Sunderland, Federation G.B), Mary McNamara, (Institute, G.B), Maura Meaney, (Union, G.B.), Brenda Dolphin (Postulator, Rome).

The appointment of Vice Postulators
In 2007, three vice postulators were appointed in specifically designated areas to assist the postulator in the work. The vice postulators are

• Mary Duffy RSM (Australia) for Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines
• Sheila Carney RSM (U.S) for Canada and North, Central and South America
• Anne Hannon RSM (Ireland) for Europe and Africa.

The role of the vice postulator, like that of the postulator, is to promote the interests of the petitioner of the Cause (Sister Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Irish Congregation), to collaborate with the competent ecclesial authorities and to seek the truth in all circumstances.

Just to give you some idea of what is happening….. There is an amazing amount of good things going on around the world that continue to make Catherine of Dublin (Venerable Catherine McAuley) better known and loved. The following is just a flavour of these exciting happenings.

In Europe and Africa interest is focussed on developing love of Catherine and her way of Mercy with junior associates who are in primary schools. Talks to school staffs and other groups about Catherine, her life and mission are very well received. Retreats based on Catherine’s sayings, on “Catherine McAuley and the Works of Mercy” are being held and the development of ways of praying the Scripture in tandem with prayers Catherine used are prepared and shared. Several new members have joined the Associate Movement and are vibrant in their efforts to be Mercy in their own situations and parishes. Week-end retreats for Associates on the theme “Walking with Catherine” are very popular and regional days on the topic of “Calling–dealing with Catherine’s calling and our own individual calling” are booked out.

In the U.S. and Canada former members of Mercy have enjoyed rediscovering Catherine from a new perspective. Summertime brings a number of retreat experiences which offer opportunities to grow closer to Catherine. Final Vow candidates for the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy have travelled to Mercy International Centre in Baggot Street in Dublin to spend time in Catherine’s house before their final profession and numbers of other Sisters will visit there during the holiday season.

In Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines several retreats and reflection days based on Catherine’s spirituality are being conducted in different places for Sisters of Mercy, Associates and their partners in ministry. A group of women and men involved in Mercy ministry in Melbourne visited Baggot Street, Dublin on pilgrimage for a week in April and they have returned to Australia with renewed energy and inspiration. Mercy Ethos programmes continue to be well received in many parts of the area, especially by those involved in our institutional ministries. These are conducted by religious and lay leaders, mainly the latter.

Possibilities of linking with young people as they prepare for World Youth Day in Sydney in July 2008 were explored and developed. The wealth and variety of activities is very encouraging. It is hoped to build on this work and to co-ordinate it in a way that will strengthen the sense of cohesiveness in relation to the extent and the depth to which knowledge and understanding of Catherine and the Charism of Mercy are communicated to the world at large.

Conclusion Together, as we continue to make Catherine and the Charism of Mercy more widely known and loved we encourage each person who reads this to share your love of Catherine with everyone you meet. Please encourage people to have recourse to Catherine’s intercession. May all of us in whatsoever way associated with Mercy keep alive, nurture and share the Charism of Mercy so beautifully portrayed by Catherine of Dublin and so needed in the world of our time.

If you would like to share with the World Wide Mercy Family on what you are doing in your own place to make Catherine more widely known and loved please make contact with the vice postulator in your area and then watch this space grow!

What else can you do?

One of the most important things we did learn is that: If we are looking for the miracle needed to declare Venerable Catherine Blessed ‘we need to pray exclusively to her.’