CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
SANCTORUM MATER
INSTRUCTION
FOR CONDUCTING DIOCESAN OR EPARCHIAL INQUIRIES
IN THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
ROME 2007
IntroductionPart I. Causes of Beatification and Canonization
Title I / Preliminary Elements
Title II. / Reputation of Holiness or of Martyrdom and of Intercessory Power
Title III. / Petitioner of the Cause
Title IV. / Postulator of the Cause
Title V. / Competent Bishop
Part II. Preliminary Phase of the Cause
Title I / Presentation of the Libellus
Title II. / Recent Causes and Ancient Causes
Title III. / Cause on Heroic Virtues or on Martyrdom
Title IV. / Libellus
Title V. / Acceptance of the Libellus
Title VI. / Consultation with Other Bishops
Title VII. / Publication of the Libellus
Title VIII. / "Nihil Obstat" of the Holy See
Part III. Instruction of the Cause
Title I. / Officials of the Inquiry in general
Title II. / Officials of the Inquiry in particular
Chapter I. / Episcopal Delegate
Chapter II. / Promotor of Justice
Chapter III. / Notary
Chapter IV. / Medical Expert
Title III. / Place of the Sessions
Part IV. Gathering of Documentary Proofs
Title I. / Theological Censors
Title II. / Experts in Historical Matters and in Matters that pertain to Archives ("Historical Commission")
Chapter I. / Experts
Chapter II. / Searching and Gathering of Documentary Proofs
Chapter III. / "Report" of the Experts
Chapter IV. / Testimony of the Experts
Part V. Gathering of Proofs from Witnesses
Title I. / Interrogatories
Title II. / "Lest Proofs be Lost"
("Ne pereant probationes")
Title III. / Citations for the Sessions
Title IV. / First Session or Opening Session of the Inquiry
Chapter I. / Participants
Chapter II. / Acts of the First Session
Chapter III. / Notary of the First Session
Title V. / Participation of the Promotor of Justice
Title VI. / Participation of the Medical Expert
Title VII. / Participation of the Postulator and/or the Vice-Postulator
Title VIII. / Witnesses and Their Depositions
Chapter I. / Who can be a Witness
Chapter II. / Who cannot be a Witness
Chapter III. / Oral Testimony
Chapter IV. / Written Declarations of Witnesses
Chapter V. / Testimony of Attending Physicians
Chapter VI. / Medical Experts "ab inspectione"
Title IX. / Use of a Tape Recorder and a Computer
Title X. / Procedure of the Rogatory Inquiry
Chapter I / Hearing of Witnesses
Chapter II / Preservation and Forwarding of the Acts
Part VI. Closing of the Inquiry
Title I. / "Declaration on the Absence of Cult"
Title II. / Publication of the Acts
Title III. / Translation of the Acts
Title IV. / Copy of the Original Acts
Title V. / Collation and Comparison of the Acts ("Collatio et Auscultatio")
Title VI. / Carrier
Title VII. / Last Session or Closing Session of the Inquiry
Chapter I. / Last Session in general
Chapter II. / Acts of the Last Session
Title VIII. / Final Acts
Chapter I. / External Inscription
Chapter II. / Letters of the Officials of the Inquiry
Chapter III. / Instrument of Closing
Appendix: Canonical Recognition of the Mortal Remains of a Servant of God
Title I. / Authentication
Title II. / Preservation
Title III. / Preparation of Relics
Title IV. / Transfer
Instruction
for conducting diocesan or eparchial Inquiries
in the causes of Saints
Mother of the Saints, the Church has always preserved their memory by proposing to the faithful examples of holiness in the sequela Christi (1). In centuries past the Roman Pontiffs saw to the promulgation of adequate norms to aid in reaching the truth in so important a matter for the Church. In our own times, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II promulgated the Apostolic Constitution, Divinus perfectionis Magister, on25January 1983. In it he established, among other things, the procedure for diocesan or eparchial Inquiries to be conducted by the Bishops with a view toward the beatification and canonization of Servants of God (2).
In the same Apostolic Constitution, the Supreme Pontiff granted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints the faculty to publish special norms for conducting such Inquiries (3) about the life, virtues and the reputation of holiness and of intercessory power, or about the life, martyrdom and the reputation of martyrdom and of intercessory power of Servants of God, and about alleged miracles attributed to the intercession of the Blessed and of Servants of God and, in some cases, about the ancient cult of a Servant of God (4).
He also abrogated the dispositions promulgated by his Predecessors and the norms established by the canons of the Code of Canon Law of 1917 in causes of beatification and canonization (5).
On 7 February 1983, the same Supreme Pontiff approved theNormae servandae in Inquisitionibus ab Episcopis faciendis in causis Sanctorum, which establish the special norms to be observed in diocesan or eparchial Inquiries for causes of beatification and canonization (6). After the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution and of the Normae servandae, the Congregation, in light of its experience, is publishing the present Instruction (7) in order to facilitate a closer collaboration in the causes of Saints between the Holy See and the Bishops.
The present Instruction intends to clarify the dispositions of currently existing laws in the causes of Saints, to facilitate their application and indicate the ways of executing them both in recent and in ancient causes. Thus, it is directed to diocesan Bishops, to Eparchs, to those who are equivalent to them in law, and to those who participate in the instructory phase of the Inquiries. The Instruction deals, in a chronological manner, with the procedural course of diocesan or eparchial Inquiries, established by the Normae servandae, indicating in a practical and chronological manner, their application while safeguarding the seriousness of the Inquiries.
First of all, it deals with the instruction of diocesan or eparchial Inquiries that regard the heroic virtues or martyrdom of Servants of God. Before deciding to initiate the cause, the Bishop will have to verify some facts that will determine his decision. After having decided to initiate the cause, he will begin the real and actual Inquiry by ordering the gathering of the documentary proofs of the cause. If no insurmountable difficulties are revealed, he will proceed to hear witnesses and, finally, to close the Inquiry and send the acts to the Congregation where the Roman phase of the cause will begin, that is, the phase of the study and definitive judgment of the cause itself.
In regard to Inquiries about alleged miracles, the Instruction indicates some elements of the procedure that, in these last twenty years, have been problematic in the application of the norms regarding the very Inquiries about miracles.
This Congregation wishes that the Instruction will be a valid aid to the Bishops so that the Christian people, following more closely the example of Christ, the Divine Teacher of Perfection, may give testimony to the world of the Kingdom of heaven. The Dogmatic Constitution of the Second Ecumenical Vatican CouncilLumen Gentiumteaches: "When we look at the life of those who have faithfully followed Christ, we are inspired with another reason to seek the city that is to come, and at the same time we learn the safest path by which, amid the changing realities of this world and in keeping with the state in life and condition proper to each of us, we will be able to arrive at perfect union with Christ, that is, holiness (8).
PART I
CAUSES OF BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION
Title I
Preliminary Elements
Art. 1 - § 1. The present Instruction deals with causes of beatification and canonization that are regulated by particular pontifical law (9).
§ 2. These causes have, as their scope, the gathering of the proofs in order to attain moral certitude on the heroic virtues or the martyrdom of the Servant of God whose beatification and canonization are asked.
§ 3. Particular prescriptions, as well as the procedural norms of the Code of Canon Law and of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches,which regard the procedure for the gathering of documentary proofs and, in particular, for the hearing of witnesses, must be observed (10).
Art. 2 - In the present Instruction, the Inquiry is equivalent to that process conducted in causes of beatification and canonization in conformity with canon law previously in force (11).
Art. 3 - In the present Instruction, the norms are the same for diocesan Bishops and Eparchs as well as for those who have the same powers in law according to can. 381 § 2 CIC.
Title II
Reputation of Holiness or of Martyrdom and of Intercessory Power
Art. 4 - § 1. The cause of beatification and canonization regards a Catholic who in life, in death and after death has enjoyed a reputation of holiness by living all the Christian virtues in an heroic manner; or enjoys a reputation of martyrdom because, having followed Christ more closely, he has sacrificed his life in the act of martyrdom.
§ 2. The Catholic whose cause of beatification and canonization has been initiated is called Servant of God.
Art. 5- § 1. The reputation of holiness is the opinion that has spread among the faithful about the purity and integrity of life of the Servant of God and about the virtues practiced by him to an heroic degree (12).
§ 2. The reputation of martyrdom is the opinion that has spread among the faithful about the death endured by the Servant of God for the Faith or for a virtue connected to the Faith (13).
Art. 6 - The reputation of intercessory power is the opinion that has spread among the faithful about the graces and favors received from God through the intercession of the Servant of God (14).
Art. 7 - § 1. Before deciding to initiate the cause, the diocesan or eparchial Bishop must verify if, among a significant portion of the people of God, the Servant of God enjoys an authentic and widespread reputation of holiness or of martyrdom as well as an authentic and widespread reputation of intercessory power (15).
§ 2. This reputation must be spontaneous and not artificially produced. It must be stable, continuous, widespread among trustworthy people and existing among a significant portion of the People of God (16).
Art. 8 - § 1. First of all, the postulator must collect documentation on the reputation of holiness or of martyrdom and on the reputation of intercessory power and, in the name of the petitioner, present it to the competent Bishop (17).
§ 2. The Bishop must evaluate the documentation in order to ascertain the existence of the reputation of holiness or of martyrdom, and of the reputation of intercessory power, as well as the importance of the cause for the Church (18).
§ 3. The documentation is to be inserted later among the acts of the Inquiry (19).
Title III
Petitioner of the Cause
Art. 9 - The petitioner promotes the cause that is to be instructed on the heroic virtues or on the martyrdom of the Servant of God, and assumes its moral and financial obligations (20).
Art. 10 - § 1. The petitioner of the cause may be the diocesan or eparchial Bishop ex officio, juridic persons, such as dioceses or eparchies, equivalent structures that have jurisdiction, parishes, Institutes of Consecrated Life or Societies of Apostolic Life, or clerical and/or lay Associations of the faithful recognized by ecclesiastical authority.
§ 2. The petitioner of the cause may also be a physical person, that is, any member of the People of God, provided that he is able to guarantee the advancement of the cause in its diocesan or eparchial and Roman phases (21).
Art. 11 - § 1. The juridic or physical person establishes itself as the petitioner of the cause by means of a notarized document.
§ 2. The Bishop is to accept this act after having verified the ability of the juridic or physical person to assume the obligations inherent to the role of petitioner.
Title IV
Postulator of the Cause
Art. 12 - § 1. By means of a mandate written according to the norm of law, the petitioner nominates a procurator, or postulator, for the diocesan or eparchial phase of the cause (22).
§ 2. In the name of the same petitioner the postulator follows the course of the Inquiry with diocesan or eparchial authorities.
§ 3. The office of postulator can be filled by a priest, a member of an Institute of Consecrated Life, of a Society of Apostolic Life, or of a clerical and/or lay Association, or by a layman or a laywoman.
§ 4. The postulator must be an expert in theology, canon law and history, as well as in the praxis of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (23).
Art. 13 - § 1. The diocesan or eparchial postulator, duly nominated by the petitioner, must be approved by the competent Bishop (24).
§ 2. The mandate of nomination of the postulator and/or vice-postulator is to be inserted into the acts of the Inquiry (25).
Art. 14 - § 1. The diocesan or eparchial postulator may be substituted by others who are called vice-postulators.
§ 2. The vice-postulator is nominated by the postulator himself; by means of a mandate written according to the norm of law, after he has first obtained the consent of the petitioner (26).
Art. 15 - § 1. During the instruction of the Inquiry, the diocesan or eparchial postulator or vice-postulator is to reside in the diocese or eparchy in which the Inquiry is being instructed.
§ 2. In the Roman phase of the cause, the postulator, duly nominated by the petitioner with a new mandate written according to the norm of law, must be approved by the Congregation and must stably reside in Rome (27).
§ 3. If the postulator of the diocesan or eparchial phase of the cause is the postulator general of an Institute of Consecrated Life, of a Society of Apostolic Life or of a clerical and/or lay Association to which the Servant of God belonged, the postulator maintains his office even in the Roman phase without a new mandate.
Art. 16 - The postulator of the Roman phase of the cause may not appoint a vice-postulator as his substitute to deal with the Congregation.
Art. 17 - § 1. First and foremost the postulator is to conduct research into the life of the Servant of God, which is useful for knowing the reputation of holiness or of martyrdom, the reputation of intercessory power and of the importance of the cause for the Church.
§ 2. The postulator is to inform the competent Bishop of the result of his research. He is to take care not to hide eventual discoveries contrary to the reputation of holiness or of martyrdom and to the reputation of intercessory power enjoyed by the Servant of God (28).
§ 3. The postulator is obliged to act for the greater good of the Church and, therefore, to seek the truth conscientiously and honestly. He is to indicate eventual difficulties so as to avoid also the necessity of further investigations that will delay the progress of the cause (29).
Art. 18 - The postulator is to administrate the funds offered for the cause according to the norms issued by the Congregation (30).
Art. 19 - § 1. The postulator must hand over to the experts in historical matters and in matters that pertain to archives all the documents of the cause that may be in his possession.
§ 2. The postulator may not gather in a juridical manner either the documentary proofs or the eventual oral depositions of witnesses in the cause (31).
§ 3.The task of gathering the proofs, according to the norm of law, belongs only to the diocesan or eparchial Bishop and to those who will be duly nominated for this task according to what is established by the Normae servandae.
Title V
Competent Bishop
Art. 20 - It is the right of diocesan Bishops, Eparchs and those who are equivalent to them in law, to investigate, within the limits of their own jurisdiction, the life, virtues or martyrdom, and reputation of holiness or of martyrdom, alleged miracles and, if it be the case, the ancient cult of a Servant of God, whose beatification and canonization are asked (32).
Art. 21 - § 1. The Bishop competent to instruct the diocesan or eparchial Inquiry into heroic virtues or martyrdom is the one in whose territory the Servant of God died (33).
§ 2 - The Bishop competent to instruct the diocesan or eparchial Inquiry into an alleged miracle is the one in whose territory the alleged miracle occurred (34).
Art. 22 - § 1. Upon the request of the Bishop who intends to initiate the cause, the Congregation can transfer competence to another ecclesiastical forum, that is, to another diocese or eparchy, for particular reasons (e.g., where the more important proofs are located or where the Servant of God spent the greater part of his life).
§ 2. The requesting Bishop must obtain the written consent of the competent Bishop.
§ 3. In the cause of a group of martyrs, it will be necessary to obtain the written consent of all the Bishops of the dioceses or eparchies where the Servants of God died.
Art. 23- § 1. After having obtained such consent, the Bishop mentioned in Art.22 § 1 of the present Instruction must send his written request to the Congregation whose competence it is to recognize the particular circumstances of the case (35).
§ 2. In the request he is to explain the reasons for the transfer of competence and, at the same time, attach a photocopy of the written consent of the competent Bishop.
Art. 24- § 1. Once the particular circumstances of the case have been verified, the Congregation will grant the transfer of competence of forum by means of a rescript which is to be inserted into the acts of the First Session of the Inquiry (36).
§ 2. The requesting Bishop is to begin the diocesan or eparchial Inquiry only after he has received the rescript of the Congregation.
PART II
PRELIMINARY PHASE OF THE CAUSE
Title I
Presentation of the Libellus
Art. 25- § 1. In recent causes the postulator is to present to the diocesan or eparchial Bishop the Libellus (supplex libellus), in which he requests the initiation of the cause (37).
§ 2. The libellus may be presented to the Bishop no sooner than five years after the death of the Servant of God (38).
§ 3. Before accepting the Libellus, the Bishop must verify whether, in that period of time, an authentic reputation of holiness or of martyrdom and of intercessory power has developed among the People of God.
Art. 26 - § 1. If the Libellus is presented after more than thirty years have passed since the death of the Servant of God, the postulator must specify the reasons which have caused such a delay.
§ 2. The Bishop is to ascertain and to judge whether there has been any fraud or deceit on the part of the petitioner in delaying the presentation of the Libellus (39).
Art. 27 - § 1. The Bishop is to attest to the absence of fraud or deceit by means of a written declaration in which he is to clarify the particular reasons for the delay.
§ 2. The declaration must be inserted into the acts of the Inquiry (40).
Title II
Recent Causes and Ancient Causes
Art. 28 - § 1. The procedure to be followed in the instruction of the diocesan or eparchial Inquiry is determined by the type of proofs.
§ 2. A cause may be recent or ancient.
Art. 29 - § 1. A cause is recent when the virtues or martyrdom of the Servant of God can be proven through the oral depositions of eyewitnesses (41).
§ 2. In a recent cause, the Inquiry will concentrate mainly upon the hearing of witnesses, while always keeping in mind the necessity to search for and gather all the documentary proofs of the cause (42).