Frank Wilson, the former book editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s book review section, reviews My Cousin the Saint today in the Sunday paper. The review is here. I think he liked the book, and was really taken by Padre Gaetano Catanoso, the man who became a saint.

Excerpt: “The real miracle on display in this book is the life of Gaetano Catanoso. Here was a man unaffected by theological subtleties, spouting no mystical mumbo-jumbo, content to pray, celebrate Mass, and be unwaveringly good and kind. In short, a good priest … the soul of the book is Padre Gaetano. We all need to become better acquainted with him.”

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.