Question:
Greetings all, Query.This may not be appropriate to ask since I can not provide any proof. I wish to ask a question. A Roman Catholic will be best in answering this since it pertains to their religion and the Pope who said it. The Pope stated several years back that he was speaking for the Church when he declared this statement.( forgive me I do not remember what the latin term is when the Pope speaks for the entire Roman Catholic Church and is said to be infallable in this particular state, saying that the Holy Spirit speaks through him and as I mentioned is said that he can not be in error).
It’s ‘ex cathedra’ – ‘from the seat [of Peter]‘. But the statement you refer to does not fall under this category. I was told this several years ago so forgive the lack of informative details. I was told that the Vatican came to a desicion after further research ( why they thought further research was required I do not know ) that certain saints are no longer concidered saints in the RCC. For example: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, Saint Christopher, Saint John Chrysostom, and a certain saint named Teresa, but I do not know from where she is. There are others but I do not remember which ones.
What happened was that they went through the Roman Calendar and checked all of the saints listed there. It was clear that some of them were most likely mythical, and it was seen as appropriate to remove these from the calendar an instead make room for those that we know more about. There were also some saints that did exist, but it was felt that they did not belong in the calendar. The result was the Roman calendar of 1969. The Vatican has never said that we are not to believe in the saints that were removed, but it has said that we don’t have to celebrate them on their feast days – it’s up to us what we want to believe. I know many Roman Catholic Individuals, or rather laymen or even priests will tell you they believe in these Saints. I know they wear the medal of Saint Chrystopher around their neck and I have seen churches, one close by where I live, that is dedicated to Saint George although it is very old it is still worshiped in.
There is nothing wrong in believing in these saints and in praying for their intercession. The decision from the Vatican affects only the Roman calendar, which means that there are no longer universal feasts for the saints that are removed. It should be remembered that most saints have never made it into the calendar. I also am aware that most RC’s are not even aware of this decision by the Church.
They may not be aware of it, but most of us check the calendar for the parish that we belong to, and see the saints that are listed in the Roman calendar there, combined with the local saints. There’s nothing sinister about it, so I wouldn’t worry about people not knowing. Further I know that many RC’s may take offence even to the question, let alone to imply that the Vatican, the Pope, would proclaim such a thing. If I offend anyone I do appologize for that, but I was just wondering if any of you have heard of this and if so, or if not, what is your reaction to this?
I think it’s a good thing that they "cleaned" the calendar a bit. There are a limited number of days in a year, and if too many are taken up by universal feasts, in the end there will be no room for local cults. Also, when we know that a saint is most likely mythical, such as St Christopher, I think it should be up to the individual Catholic to decide whether he/she believes in that saint. Chris Nyborg
Response:
I was told this several years ago so forgive the lack of informative details. I was told that the Vatican came to a desicion after further research ( why they thought further research was required I do not know ) that certain saints are no longer concidered saints in the RCC. For example: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, Saint Christopher, Saint John Chrysostom, and a certain saint named Teresa, but I do not know from where she is. There are others but I do not remember which ones.
1) This wasn’t declared infallibly 2) Before formal canonization procedures began (i believe around the 12th century), most saints were recognized by common acclaim. That is, if most of the church seemed to accept that they were saints, then it just wasn’t questioned that they were. In the late 1960’s, the Vatican investigated some of these saints, and saw that for many, there wasn’t any historical proof that they did what they did, or even existed. St. Christopher was one of these, his story is believed to be based on a popular myth of the time. The second pope (whose name elludes me) was another. He was said to have been martyred, but there is no history of violent persecution during his time. So these saints were removed from the Roman calendar. Countries are still free to recognize them if they choose, thus there is still devotion to Christopher in this country. Hope that answers your question, and sorry I wasn’t up on the dates. Stephen "We may not depart in agreement, but we will depart as friends." –Fr. Bob–
Response:
I would like to hear more about this—-does anyone else have any info or actual dates of said pontifical announcements? Which saints were actually included under this pronouncment? In Christ, Scott
Response:
Greetings all, Query.This may not be appropriate to ask since I can not provide any proof. I wish to ask a question. A Roman Catholic will be best in answering this since it pertains to their religion and the Pope who said it. The Pope stated several years back that he was speaking for the Church when he declared this statement.( forgive me I do not remember what the latin term is when the Pope speaks for the entire Roman Catholic Church and is said to be infallable in this particular state, saying that the Holy Spirit speaks through him and as I mentioned is said that he can not be in error). I was told this several years ago so forgive the lack of informative details. I was told that the Vatican came to a desicion after further research ( why they thought further research was required I do not know ) that certain saints are no longer concidered saints in the RCC. For example: Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint George, Saint Nicholas, Saint Christopher, Saint John Chrysostom, and a certain saint named Teresa, but I do not know from where she is. There are others but I do not remember which ones. I know many Roman Catholic Individuals, or rather laymen or even priests will tell you they believe in these Saints. I know they wear the medal of Saint Chrystopher around their neck and I have seen churches, one close by where I live, that is dedicated to Saint George although it is very old it is still worshiped in. I also am aware that most RC’s are not even aware of this decision by the Church. Further I know that many RC’s may take offence even to the question, let alone to imply that the Vatican, the Pope, would proclaim such a thing. If I offend anyone I do appologize for that, but I was just wondering if any of you have heard of this and if so, or if not, what is your reaction to this? Also, I completly understand if you refuse to believe this statement at all since I can not provide you with any proof. For this I am likewise sorry. Sincerely, Boulas
If you like this post and would like to receive updates from this blog, please subscribe our feed.