Positio
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In the Catholic Church, a positio (Positio super Virtutibus) is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint.
Description[]
A positio is a formal brief arguing for the canonization of an individual in the Roman Catholic Church. Before canonization,[1] the formal declaration by the Pope that a person is a saint, there is a long process, with various intermediate steps. First, a person whose holiness is being investigated (by a postulator, appointed by the Pope) is referred to as a Servant of God. The very fact of appointing a postulator means that the process of beatification has been activated.
If investigations reveal that the person was indeed holy enough, then a "formal argument for sainthood", the positio, is presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This document contains the , or life story, of the Servant of God under investigation, as well as a series of documents and testimonies to support the cause (summarium). In short, the positio collects the evidence obtained by a diocesan inquiry into a candidate's heroic virtues.
Upon presentation, the positio is examined by a committee of expert historians and theologians, and if they find the evidence presented suitable, they may then make a recommendation to the Pope that the candidate be declared Venerable—that is, worthy of the devotion of Catholic believers.[2]
A positio can run to over 1,000 pages in length. The time between the preparation of a positio and a recommendation by the committee of historians and theologians can often be decades.
References[]
- ^ "Congregation for the Causes of Saints".
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2019-07-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Saints of the Catholic Church | |
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Congregation for the Causes of Saints Stages of canonization: Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint | |
| Virgin Mary |
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| Apostles |
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| Archangels |
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| Confessors |
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| Disciples |
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| Doctors |
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| Evangelists |
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| Church Fathers |
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| Martyrs |
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| Missionaries |
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| Patriarchs |
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| Popes |
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| Prophets |
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| Virgins |
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| See also |
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