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“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13)
Worthy of special consideration and honor are those Christians
who, following more than closely the footsteps and teachings of the Lord Jesus,
have voluntarily and freely offered their life for others and persevered with
this determination unto death.
Certainly, the heroic offering of life [heroica vitae oblatio],
inspired and sustained by charity, expresses a true, complete and exemplary
imitation of Christ, and thus is deserving of that admiration that the community
of faithful customarily reserves to those who have voluntarily accepted the
martyrdom of blood or have exercised Christian virtues to a heroic degree.
With the support of the favorable opinion expressed by the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints which, in its Plenary Session on 27
September 2016, carefully studied whether these Christians are deserving of
beatification, I establish that the following norms be observed:
ART. I
The offer of life [vitae oblatio] is a new
cause for the beatification and canonization procedure, distinct from the causes
based on martyrdom and on the heroism of virtues.
ART. 2
The offer of life, in order that it be valid and effective for
the beatification of a Servant of God, must respond to the following criteria:
1) a free
and voluntary offer of life and heroic acceptance propter caritatem of
a certain and untimely death;
2) a nexus
between the offer of life and premature death;
3) the
exercise, at least as ordinarily possible, of Christian virtues before the offer
of life and, then, unto death;
4) the
existence of a reputation of holiness and of signs, at least after death;
5) the
necessity of a miracle for beatification, occurring after the death of the
Servant of God and through his or her intercession.
ART. 3
The celebration of the diocesan or eparchial Inquest and the
relative Positio are regulated by the Apostolic Constitution Divinus
perfectionis Magister of 25 January 1983, in Acta Apostolicae Sedis
Vol . LXXV (1983, 349-355), and by the Normae servandae in inquisitionibus
ab Episcopis facendis in Causis Sanctorum of 7 February of the same year,
in Acta Apostolicae Sedis Vol. LXXV (1983, 396-403), except as follows.
ART. 4
The Positio on the offer of life must respond to the dubium:
An constet de heroica oblatione vitae usque ad mortem propter caritatem
necnon de virtutibus christianis, saltem in gradu ordinario, in casu et ad
effectum de quo agitur [Whether the offer of life unto death for reason of
charity, as well as at least the ordinary exercise of Christian virtues, is
demonstrated in the cause and for the ends concerned].
ART. 5
The following articles of the said Apostolic Constitution are
thus modified:
Art. 1: “It is the right of diocesan Bishops or
Bishops of the Eastern Rite and others who have the same
powers in law, within the limits of their own
jurisdiction, either ex officio or upon the request of
individual members of the faithful or of legitimate
groups and their representatives, to inquire about the
life, virtues, the offer of life or martyrdom and
reputation of sanctity, of the offer of life or
martyrdom, alleged miracles, as well as, if it be the
case, ancient cult of the Servant of God, whose
canonization is sought.”
Art. 2.5:
“The inquiry into alleged miracles is to be conducted
separately from the inquiry into virtues, the offer
of life or martyrdom.”
Art. 7.1:
“to study the causes entrusted to them, together with
collaborators from outside the Congregation, and to
prepare the Positions on virtues, on the offer of
life or on martyrdom.”
Art. 13.2:
“If the meeting judges that the cause was conducted
according to the norms of law, it decides to which
Relator the cause is to be assigned; the Relator, then,
together with a collaborator from outside the
Congregation, will prepare the Position on virtues,
on the offer of life or on martyrdom according to
the rules of critical hagiography.”
ART. 6
The following Articles of the said Normae servandae in
inquisitionibus ab Episcopi facendis in Causis Sanctorum are thus modified:
Art. 7: “A cause can be recent or ancient; it is
called recent if the martyrdom or virtues or the
offer of life of the Servant of God can be proved
through the oral depositions of eye witnesses; it is
ancient, however, when the proofs for martyrdom or
virtues can be brought to light only from written
sources.”
Art. 10.1:
“In both recent and ancient causes, a biography of any
historical import of the Servant of God, should such
exist, or otherwise an accurate, chronologically
arranged report on the life and deeds of the Servant of
God, on his virtues or on his offer of life or
martyrdom, on his reputation of sanctity and of signs.
Nor should anything be omitted which seems to be
contrary or less favorable to the cause.”
Art. 10.3:
“In recent causes only, a list of persons who can help
bring to light the truth about the virtues or the
offer of life or the martyrdom of the Servant of
God, and about his reputation of sanctity or of signs.
Those with contrary opinions must also be included.”
Art. 15.a:
“Once the report has been accepted, the Bishop is to
hand over to the Promoter of Justice or to another
expert everything gathered up to that point so that he
might formulate the interrogatories most effective in
searching out and discovering the truth about the life
of the Servant of God, his virtues, his offer of
life or martyrdom, his reputation of holiness,
of the offer of life or of martyrdom.”
Art. 15.b: “In ancient causes, however, the
interrogatories are only to consider the reputation of
sanctity, of the offer of life or martyrdom
existing until the present as well as, if it be the
case, the cult given to the Servant of God in more
recent times.”
Art. 19:
“In order to prove the martyrdom or the practice of
virtues or the offer of life and the reputation
of signs of the Servant of God who belonged to any
institute of consecrated life, a significant number of
the proposed witnesses must be from outside the
Institute unless, on account of the particular life of
the Servant of God, this should prove impossible.”
Art. 32:
“The inquiry on miracles is to be instructed separately
from the inquiry on virtues or the offer of life
or martyrdom and is to be conducted according to
the norms which follow.”
Art. 36:
“Any solemn celebrations or panegyric speeches about
Servants of God whose sanctity of life is still being
legitimately examined are prohibited in Churches.
Furthermore, one must also refrain, even outside of
Church, from any acts which could mislead the faithful
into thinking that the inquiry conducted by the Bishop
into the life of the Servant of God and his virtues or
martyrdom or offer of life carries with it the
certitude that the Servant of God will be one day
canonized.”
All that I have deliberated with this Apostolic Letter issued
Motu Proprio, I order be observed in all its parts, notwithstanding
anything to the contrary, even should it merit particular mention, and I
establish that it be promulgated by publication in L’Osservatore Romano,
entering into force on the same day of its promulgation and that, subsequently,
it be inserted into the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s,
on 11 July 2017, fifth year of my Pontificate.
Francis
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