The Vatican reports that nine Catholic heroes are closer to sainthood as the result of recent declarations by Pope Benedict XVI. The story is here. This is interesting insofar as Benedict was seen by many upon becoming pope in 2005 as dramatically slowing down the number of saints and blesseds named. This does not appear to be the case; at the very least, he seems to be looking favorably among those in the long pipeline filled by his predecessor (and prodigious saint maker) Pope John Paul II.

Now the big question is: when will JPII make the list? A miracle has been credited to him, which would clear the way for beatification, but it has not yet been approved. What’s the status?

Photo by Len Catanoso Jr. during the canonization of Padre Gaetano Catanoso

HAVANA (Reuters) Nov. 29 - Cuban President Raul Castro attended a ceremony for the country’s first religious beatification on Saturday in another sign of warming relations between the Communist-ruled island and the Catholic Church…After Fidel Castro came to power in an armed revolution in 1959, Cuba expelled priests and Catholics faced decades of official atheism. Ties improved after Cuba guaranteed religious freedom in 1992 and Pope John Paul II visited six years later.

Adam Sobsey, a talented book reviewer for The Independent, an alternative weekly in Raleigh, N.C., reviews My Cousin the Saint in this week’s paper. The review is here. An excerpt:

“Although Catanoso often shows us his skeptical-journalist card (he’s a Pulitzer nominee and the executive editor of the Triad’s Business Journal), the combination of his ardent earnestness and his felicitous discoveries mark him as a man who wants very much to believe—partially for the very reason that he seems to keep finding only good news everywhere he looks. Even when people close to him die, there’s uplift at the end.”

The Los Angeles Times today carries a column I wrote about the new pope, the old pope and my favorite saint. Thanks to my good friend Frank Wilkinson, executive editor of The Week in New York, for motivation and editing assistance. The piece is here.

It starts like this: “Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent,” George Orwell said. The Vatican lately seems to share Orwell’s skepticism.

Pope Benedict XVI has made no secret of his disdain for the high volume of saints named by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005. John Paul II conducted 482 canonizations, naming more saints in 26 years than his predecessors had canonized in the previous four centuries.

Since becoming pope, Benedict has stopped attending the elaborate beatification ceremonies in St. Peter’s Square, the last step before canonization, and has issued a call for “greater sobriety and rigor” in the process. Last week, he replaced the leader of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, an office that fully supported John Paul’s active saint-making philosophy. Vatican-watchers expect the new leader, Archbishop Angelo Amato, to throw more wrenches in the saint-making machinery.

So who need saints, anyway? That’s a question I take personally. Read the whole thing.

This would seem a simple question: is Mother Teresa a saint? If you took a vote, she’d likely win in a landslide. But as I learned firsthand in the course of researching my book, canonization is not a popularity contest. So while Pope John Paul II placed his friend from Calcutta on a saintly fast track, waiving the five-year waiting period before the cause could be considered, things have slowed considerably since her beatification.

This article explains why.

Vatican officials said today that the beatificaton of Pope Pius XII, the controversial pope of World War II, is not imminent. There is debate still about whether Pius should have taken a stronger stand against Hitler’s known atrocities, but there is also ample evidence that he did what he could to shelter thousands of Roman Jews during the war.

This much about the Italian pope is not controversial. On September 11, 1941, he met briefly and privately with a future saint, Padre Gaetano Catanoso. I detail this meeting in Chapter 4 of my book — a regal and humbling moment. The old priest had a big favor to ask because he had a huge problem to solve. But he couldn’t do it, simply saying: “I ask only your blessing, Holy Father, for me, my nuns, the children of my institutes, and those who are dear to me.”

More on Pope Pius XII here.

The question is often asked: can a beatification or canonization be revoked? Answers offered here.

In 1997, Pope John Paul II, the most beloved pope in modern history, beatified Paddre Gaetano Catanoso in a huge ceremony in St. Peter’s Square. To the surprise of no one, it now appears John Paul II might be beatified himself in less than a year, according to a report in the Telegraph in the UK. As my book details, the road to sainthood is long and laborious, requiring lots of research. Beatification also requires one miracle. John Paul II will need another miracle credited to him for canonization. Rome will not be able to hold all the pilgrims who will flock to the city for these events.

More on the story here.