BAÑOC
I do not wonder about or I am not surprised a bit with the endless stream of praises towards the late Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. I am pleased. I would now like to venture into tackling the prospect of him becoming a saint, and again this is with all due respect to non-Catholics.
Ricardo Cardinal Vidal had worked hard for two decades to finally make San Pedro Calungsod, a young martyr, officially declared as a saint. He also started to work for the canonization of Bishop Teofilo Camomot who was known for his extreme generosity and holiness. But now that he went back to our father’s home in heaven, who will work for his canonization for sainthood?
Many said that Cardinal Vidal is a candidate for sainthood. There was a suggestion to lobby to the bishops to work for his canonization. If we scrutinize his contributions to both church and country and the testimonies of those who knew him personally, such will probably make everyone agree that he is worthy to be recognized as a saint.
However, the Catholic Church does not make saints like Hollywood makes movie stars. It is not that easy. It will take a long process before one is officially recognized as a saint.
Yesterday, the remains of Cardinal Vidal were finally laid to rest. Usually, the process of recognizing a saint starts no earlier than five years after a person’s death and there are at least four major steps, namely, Servant of God, Venerable, Beato/Blessed and the Canonization. Each step will also take time.
As soon as the person is accepted for consideration, he/she is called a Servant of God, the first step. After the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints determines that the Servant of God lived a life of heroic virtue, he/she is granted the title of Venerable, the second step.
The church will continuously conduct investigation and establish at least one miracle. Thereafter, the venerable person’s cause is presented to the pope to check if the said person is worthy of being called Beato/Blessed, the third step. In this step, a person gains only local recognition as a saint.
The last step is canonization. It is defined as the act by which a Christian Church declares that a person who has died was a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the list of recognized saints.
In this step, the church will again find additional proof if indeed the said person is worthy to be recognized as a saint through canonization. Thereafter, he/she is finally recognized in the whole Catholic Church.
Usually, the saint is named with the place where he served and offered his life. In the case of Cardinal Vidal, if he becomes a saint, most likely, he will be called San Ricardo de Cebu. But then again the process is so tedious. We do not know if we are still alive by the time that happens.
For now, even without such recognition, the late Cardinal Vidal can still help us in his prayers. He is a saint in our own opinion and belief. After all, there are many saints in heaven who are not recognized here on earth.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained” (Rev. 6:9). They are the martyrs because of preaching the word of God. Many of them are not recognized here on earth.
While in heaven they are praying to God. “And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:4, American Standard Version).
In my humble opinion, I can say that all persons who went through canonization are saints. But not all saints have undergone canonization or recognition by the whole church. In fact, originally in the early stage of the Roman Catholic Church history, a person was recognized as a saint without any formal process.
So as early as today, I think no one will prevent us if in our individual capacity, we believe that he is already in heaven, a saint notwithstanding canonization, and can help us in prayers.