News - November 2021 RSS Feed

Among the activities of the recently concluded meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was the agreement on November 17, 2021 that the sainthood causes for three laypeople from the United States should be advanced by their perspective dioceses. Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette, Louisiana presented the causes of Auguste Robert “Nonco” Pelafigue and Charlene Richard. Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu presented the third cause, that of Joseph Dutton. In 2007 the Vatican issued a document Sanctorum Mater (Mother of Saints) requiring a diocesan bishop promoting a sainthood cause to consult with the body of bishops on the advisability of pursuing the case. That is why Bishop Deshotel and Bishop Silva made these presentations at the recent USCCB meeting. The bishops affirmed advancement of all three causes via voice vote with no audible dissent. All three sainthood candidates have the title “Servant of God,” given to them when their causes officially opened. I want to devote the rest of this Flocknote to Brother Joseph Dutton, as he has been informally called.

November is National Black Catholic History Month. As part of our observance of this important annual event I want to continue our survey of American Leaders of African Descent on the road to sainthood. This week we will look at three saintly individuals: Venerable Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA.

November is National Black Catholic History Month. One way that I thought we could observe that was to look at the six African American people whose cause for canonization is advancing. We’ll look at three individuals on the road to sainthood this week. We’ll look at the other three next week. I am going to base my remarks on the reflections of each of the six that have been provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Before I present the first three candidates for possible canonization, let me give a quick explanation of terms. Servant of God is the title of a person who died “in the odor of sanctity” and into whose life and virtues the Church has instituted an inquiry for the purpose of having the person declared Blessed, which will bring with it the right to receive liturgical celebrations. Venerable is the title of a Servant of God whose cause or beatification has been introduced and whose heroic virtue or martyrdom has been officially established. However, those who have been declared Venerable cannot yet receive public liturgical veneration. We will look now at the six candidates in chronological order: three this week and three next week.

Today marks the beginning of National Vocation Awareness Week, which will continue until Saturday, November 13, 2021. National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education. During this week we renew our prayers and support for those considering one of the vocations. NVAW began in 1976 when the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year as a week to promote vocation awareness. In 1997 the bishops moved the celebration to coincide with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, but in 2014 they moved it once again to the first full week of November.