VATICAN CITY (CNS) — All saints are exceptional, but the canonization of 19-year-old St. Nunzio Sulprizio wasn’t, if one considers how many young people officially have been recognized by the Catholic Church, said the cardinal who leads the Vatican office in charge of documenting holy lives.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu is prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, an office that was established in 1588 to standardize the process used to determine which holy men and women would be recognized as saints and have their feast days added to the Church’s calendar.
St. Nunzio Sulprizio was canonized Oct. 14 in the same ceremony that proclaimed the holiness of St. Paul VI, who was pope from 1963 to 1978, and St. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass.
In the 430 years since his office was established, Cardinal Becciu told the Synod of Bishops that about 160 young people under the age of 30 have been canonized and another 733 have been beatified or declared “blessed,” which is the step before they are recognized as saints. In the cases of another 54 young people, the Church formally has recognized that they lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way; that declaration – meaning the person is “venerable” – is the first major step of the sainthood process.
Before they can be beatified, the Church must recognize that they were martyred for their faith or must attribute a miracle to their intercession.
Stay Connected With Us