FAQs
By William Van de Planque | On Mission
This July, as the United States celebrates 250 years as a nation, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion will host a first-of-its-kind exhibit honoring the holy men and women, saints, blesseds, venerables and servants of God, who shaped the Catholic faith in America.
Servant of God Adele Brice, the seer of Our Lady of Champion, will be one of those represented at the exhibit.
As many of the faithful in the Diocese of Green Bay are already aware, the cause for canonization for Brice is well underway, with investigations into her life and virtue currently taking place.
According to AmericanSaintsandCauses.com, dioceses across the United States have opened causes for canonization for over 100 men and women, including Brice, and 13 have already been declared saints by the Church.
Fr. John Girotti, vicar general of the Diocese of Green Bay, plays an integral role in the diocesan phase as the episcopal delegate of the cause. In February, he had the unique opportunity to travel to California for an intensive course at the Center for Sainthood Studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, where he learned about different causes for canonization and the process of making saints.
Fr. Edward Looney, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Shawano, accompanied Fr. Girotti on the trip, and the two were among about 50 participants in the intensive course, each representing practically every state in the country.
Fr. Girotti recalled seeing the head of a religious order in New York City, the foundress of which is up for canonization, as well as a young priest from Bismarck, North Dakota, who is leading the cause for Michelle Duppong, a FOCUS missionary who died of cancer in 2015.
“The neat thing about working with the saints or with holy people is that you hope, you pray, that it rubs off,” Fr. Girotti said. “Anytime we read the lives of the saints, it’s a wonderful way of being edified.”
Fr. Looney agreed that learning the stories of saints or those on their way to sainthood can be encouraging and inspiring. He has served in parishes near Champion and said he met many people during that time who were spiritually enriched by her life story and even had family members who knew her.
“Everyone had their Adele Brice story,” he said. “You could just see how that was an important thread of their family history. I think her story has inspired people all throughout the years.”
Fr. Girotti encourages the faithful of the diocese to learn about the stories of Brice and others on their way to sainthood, asking for their intercession and taking inspiration from them.
“I would invite people to realize that heaven is not far away and saints are not far away and holiness is not far away,” he said. “It’s close; it’s all around us. The possibility of a canonized saint from our diocese reminds us of that. In the ordinariness of life, God does extraordinary things.”
For more information about the American sainthood causes exhibit at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, visit championshrine.org/americansaints.