1. Doesn’t the canonization process take years?
2. What does a Pope have to do with the process anyway?
3. If a pope could pick saints would he do it for political purposes?
Centuries ago, that process would not have taken long and in a special way, if the person died either as a martyr or lived a very holy life. St. Francis was declared a saint a few short years after he died for example.
1. Saints have been honored in the Church since the first century of the Christian era. but the complex courtroom-type process to evaluate a candidate for canonization wasn't set up until 1,000 yeas later. And this was, in part, to stave off the "popular vote" honors going to war heroes, matriarchs of nobility, rich donors, pretty girls who died young, and others who may have appealed to people on a celebrity level, but who might have had a certain mediocrity as to faith and morals.
Therefore the Vatican installed a process that would take years, hopefully after the first emotions about a local celebrity's death had died down (typically a generation later) and there was still time to interview people who knew them, examine their writings in detail, see if the Devil's Advocate digs up any dirt, pray and wait... and wait ... and wait... for a couple of authenticating miracles, etc.
2. A pope doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the process if it stays on the local level. St. Hildegard of Bingen, for instance, was honored locally (in the Rhineland) for some 7 centuries or so before Pope Benedict XVI actively boosted her "cause" and got her canonized for the Universal Church, i.e. authorized her to be liturgically honored throughout the whole Church.
(Named her Doctor of the Church, too. B16 really digs Hildegard (LINK), as do I!.)
3. I suppose a pope could well be tempted to canonize someone for political reasons. That's why I strongly prefer that the Church return to the pre-John Paul II practice, which featured many delays, stringent investigation of reported miracles, and a lot of quasi-judicial "process."
That'll be two cents, please.
This does sound a bit like that, doesn't it? Don't want to offend anyone with their former pope fave. Besides which, I thought there had to be serious verifiable miracles in their resume.
on a silly note, this seems a bit like the Rock and Roll HOF inductee choices...rock stars picking other rock stars just 'cuz they can.
“3. If a pope could pick saints would he do it for political purposes?”
Pius IX and Pius XII were discussed as candidates for sainthood until it was politicized. I guess we can just refer to them as “Saint Pius IX” and “Saint Pius XII”...
In the larger scheme of things, neither John XXIII or John Paul II can hold a candle to St. Pius X in terms of their impact on the world today; I for one am surprised that either of them is being canonized at this point.
“1. Doesn’t the canonization process take years?”
At least six years, yes.
“2. What does a Pope have to do with the process anyway?”
Everything. He can withhold permission for the process to even start, for instance.
“3. If a pope could pick saints would he do it for political purposes?”
Yes, but only if that saint was also holy. John Paul II pushed the process for many people who were holy but were even more important for cultural reasons (or perhaps we might say “political” reasons. John Paul II wanted Catholics around the world to see that the faith was a world wide thing and not a European thing: Hence:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/document.php?n=697