Since his election 25 years ago, John Paul has beatified and canonized an incredibly diverse group of saints. In fact, he has canonized more saints than all of his predecessors combined. With more than 1,300 beatifications and 450 canonizations, the Holy Father is history's greatest saint-maker.
This has been brought about, in part, through the reforms of 1983 in the Congregation for Sainthood Causes. The saint-making process was transformed from a trial-like endeavor to a more historical academic procedure. The reforms eliminated the need for a “devil's advocate.” Furthermore, the reduction of the necessary miracles from four to two also made it easier for the congregation to advance particular causes.
The Church, of course, does not create saints. Only God can do that. The Church merely declares them.
What an array of holy men and women have been beatified and canonized during John Paul's pontificate. They include persons from every continent and every state of life, including children, adults, male and female, single and married. They include martyrs, mystics, religious founders and lay Catholics.
A product of the 20th century himself, the Holy Father recognizes that such a bloody century has produced an inordinate number of martyrs.
Among the groups of martyrs he has canonized are those from Mexico, China, Vietnam, Korea, Poland and elsewhere.
He has also concentrated on the holy men and women who died during World War II. In fact, one of his first canonizations was that of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who gave his life for a husband and father in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. Among others, he has also canonized the concentration camp martyr Edith Stein.
John Paul's saints also include a variety of mystics. They include saints such as Padre Pio, Juan Diego, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the visionary children from Fatima and one from his own beloved Poland, Sister Faustina Kowalska.
Religious founders still make up the greatest number of the Church's saints. Among those whom the Holy Father has canonized are the wealthy heiress and founder of the American Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Mother Katharine Drexel. Mother Drexel formed an order that sought to educate and evangelize Native Americans and blacks when it wasn't politically correct to do so. Last year, the Pope also beatified Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. On Oct. 19 he will beatify Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity.
Last, but not least, the Holy Father has canonized many lay Catholics. While lay Catholics continue to make up the smallest minority of the Church's saints, John Paul has made a genuine effort to change this fact. During his pontificate he has beatified more than 200 lay people and canonized more than 200 more. Among them is the Church's first married couple, Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrochi. Other lay beatifications include such aspiring saints as the young Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, the pro-life physician and mother.
Twenty-nine years ago, then Archbishop of Hanoi Joseph-Marie Trinh Van-Can was allowed by the Vietnamese government to attend the World Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. There, he told the bishops, “Send us lives of the saints!” He explained that his people needed more than anything else to see that it was possible to follow in Christ's footsteps and to remain faithful when facing hardships.
For 25 years the Pope has been doing just that.
By doing so he has demonstrated that our Church is a living Church, made up of both an ancient and a modern cloud of witnesses.
Some critics have described John Paul as a “saint-making machine,” but the Holy Father knows what he is doing.
If there is to be a new springtime of faith, we need holy men and women whose examples we can follow. Through their lives they demonstrate the myriad paths to holiness. Their examples encourage and inspire those of us living in what appears to be a saint-less age. They also remind us that we are surrounded by examples of holiness, if we will only look. Examples of holiness do exist among members of our families, our parish, among our neighbors and our friends.
Faced with death many times over, Pope John Paul II knows we're all going to die and each of us has an eternal home. Through the beatification and canonization of so many faithful he has provided us with eternal examples of whom we can emulate, living witnesses whom we can ask for intercession and prayer, and role models whom we can follow to our own eternal home.
Do we still have need for the saints?
“Yes,” the Holy Father seems to be saying, “now more than ever.”
Tim Drake is the editor of Saints of the Jubilee (1stBooks, 2002).