Closer to Canonization

A canonical inquiry into the life of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, will begin soon and extend to the end of the year, according to the Archdiocese of New York, which is sponsoring her sainthood cause. The names of 256 people had been submitted as potential eyewitnesses to Day’s life. Of those, 52 have been chosen for interviews. “Because many of the eyewitnesses still live in voluntary poverty, caring for the poor, the archdiocese will assist with airfare and lodging for those requesting assistance,” said an announcement on April 19 by the archdiocese. The archdiocese will gather the evidence and present it to the Vatican’s Congregation for Saints’ Causes and to Pope Francis. If, after examining the inquiry, the Vatican congregation and the pope recognize Day’s heroic virtues, she will be declared venerable, the next step in the canonization process. She now has the title “servant of God.”