 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1611 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 02:54 pm |
|
| I keep hearing people say they were influenced by C.S. Lewis when they converted to catholicism, or returned to the church, or found true Christianity. He seems to have a huge and ongoing influence, and I was just wondering, has any attempt been made to start a case for sainthood for him? Does anyone here know of reasons he wouldn't be considered?
|
|
|
CajunRick
Guest
| Joined: | |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | |
| First Name: | | | Gender: | | | Faith History: | |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 04:15 pm |
|
Credo Catholic wrote: Does anyone here know of reasons he wouldn't be considered?
Remember that canonization is not a reward for accomplishments but a recognition of an exceptional spiritual life. As Mother Teresa said, holiness is not because of extraordinary things, but ordinary things done extraordinarily.
A cause for sainthood usually begins with a local recognition of a person's extraordinary holiness. Sometimes the candidates are the least likely to be considered under the world's terms. For example, a cause has been opened for Charlene Richard, a young Cajun girl who died of leukemia at age 12. She was known locally for her holiness and today, thousands kneel at her grave to pray for her intercession. You can read more about her here. (The bishop mentioned, Harry Flynn, is the former archbishop of Minneapolis/St. Paul.)
One of the reasons the Church normally requires that a cause cannot be opened for five years is to see how the people who knew the deceased react. Is there a spontaneous recognition of holiness? Does devotion develop? Does it increase? What do the priests and bishops who knew the deceased have to say?
Then there is also the practical side. Being a postulator is a lot of work. Who will undertake it? Who will pay for it? That's on reason most saints are religious -- religious orders are able and willing to expend the resources necessary (salaries, photocopies, travel expenses, etc.) to carry the case forward.
So while I know of no particular reason C.S. Lewis would not be considered for sainthood, I also know of no reason that he would. Of course, that's not to say that I know everything (God only knows how many times I've proven my ignorance on the forum!), I know that a cause for sainthood is extremely rare and only undertaken for extraordinary reasons.
|
|
|
David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2522 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 07:18 pm |
|
Marsha, there are two reasons why C.S. Lewis will never be canonized in the Catholic Church. The first is that he wasn’t Catholic. He was Anglican, and it would be up to the Church of England to canonize him if he were otherwise worthy. The second thing is that he married a divorced woman, which in Catholic morality is considered sinful.
David
|
|
|
Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1611 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 08:30 pm |
|
| Well, that's a quick answer to the question David! I have also wondered if the church has canonized anyone who was not catholic. So that answers another question. Thanks.
|
|
|
David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2522 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 08:48 pm |
|
I have also wondered if the church has canonized anyone who was not Catholic.
A few decades ago, right after the Second Vatican Council, there was a suggestion made by a group of Catholic religious that the Vatican should canonize the famous Protestant John Wesley as an “ecumenical gesture.” Indeed, he was well known for his piety and uprightness, but also for bending some of the rules in the Church of England to accommodate those who followed his preaching. Wesley was an Anglican priest; although he is often associated in people’s minds with the Methodist denomination, he was never a Methodist in the sectarian sense. (“Methodism” in the original Wesleyan sense is an Anglican school of spirituality.) The Vatican declined to consider him because he was not Catholic, saying that the Catholic Church has jurisdiction only over its own members. So once again, it would fall to the Church of England to canonize Wesley if he were worthy.
David
|
|
|
Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1611 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16th, 2008 10:13 pm |
|
David W. Emery wrote: Wesley was an Anglican priest; although he is often associated in people’s minds with the Methodist denomination, he was never a Methodist in the sectarian sense. (“Methodism” in the original Wesleyan sense is an Anglican school of spirituality.) The Vatican declined to consider him because he was not Catholic, saying that the Catholic Church has jurisdiction only over its own members. So once again, it would fall to the Church of England to canonize Wesley if he were worthy.
That makes sense to me. Thanks!
|
|
|
Laughing Elf
Member
| Joined: | Sat Feb 16th, 2008 |
| Location: | Alabama USA |
| Posts: | 83 |
| First Name: | Rod | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Methodist, PCA, agnostic, Buddhist, Episcopalian, Methodist |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15th, 2008 04:26 am |
|
We must never for get that it was a Catholic that led C.S. Lewis to Christ......J.R.R. Tolkein. 
Blessings,
Rod
____________________
"Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight."
Tolkien, LOTR I
|
|
|
Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 2445 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 17th, 2008 07:23 pm |
|
I'm convinced Lewis would be a Catholic now if he were still alive.
As it was, I heard a story from Peter Kreeft that Tolkien asked Lewis one day why he wasn't yet a Catholic. Lewis reputedly said something to the effect of, "if you had grown up in Belfast, you would understand why."
That's about it, I think. The leap was simply too great and wasn't "thinkable" for Lewis. But today, with all the nonsense in Anglicanism, I think it would be a very different story. He would have been an outcast in his own communion. He sort of was, anyway, because there were plenty of Anglican liberals, then, too.
I have a large page of Lewis links, if anyone is interested. He's my favorite writer (though I think Chesterton may soon replace him, because I'm reading dozens of his books at present for a planned book of quotations).
____________________
I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2100+ papers & web pages (free) & 17 apologetic books (4 sale: 15 E-Books: $25)
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
|
|
|
Current time is 11:13 am | |
|
|
|
|
|
