Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle during a mass at the Manila Cathedral when he was still the archbishop of the Philippine capital. File photo from Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file
MANILA - Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines has been tasked by Pope Francis to lead the beatification of Pauline-Marie Jaricot in France next year.
Tagle, the current prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and former Manila archbishop, will travel to Lyon to lead the beatification mass, where the French lay woman will be declared a "blessed" — a step closer in the Catholic Church's long and arduous process of recognizing an individual as a saint.
Born in Lyons, France in 1799, Jaricot founded the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of Faith and the Association of Living Rosary.
In 1963, she was declared "venerable" by then pope John XXIII.
Fr. Brian Lucas, National Director of Catholic Mission, welcomed the announcement of Jaricot's beatification since it will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
“As a laywoman committed to supporting the missionary activities of the church, she reminds us that holiness is not confined to those in holy orders or members of religious congregations,” Fr. Lucas said on the Catholic Mission website.
“Through her vision and energy, she established a network of prayer and support which continues to this day so that local churches in solidarity can assist those missionary churches that are in need, due to persecution, minority status, or lack of material resources.”
Beatification, in the Catholic Church, recognizes that the deceased follower lived a holy life. In cases of martyrs, it's a declaration that the faithful indeed died for the Faith. Those who are beatified are called "blessed" or "beatus" and are now open for veneration, although not throughout the universal Church.
After this, canonization begins, which normally requires two miracles attributed to the blessed. After thorough investigations and studies, the pope declares with finality that the individual was indeed a saint and should be venerated by the whole Church.
The pope can task a bishop to lead the beatification on his behalf but only the pontiff can perform the rite of canonization.
In 2016, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo led the beatification of 17 martyrs of Laos.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Pauline-Marie Jaricot, France, beatification, Vatican, Catholic Church,