On April 27, the pope will utter the Latin word "discernimus," meaning "we recognize it," in regard to the sainthood of Carlo Acutis. And thus, Acutis—who died in 2006 from leukemia at age 15—will become the first millennial saint. At the Guardian, Linda Kinstler plays off this to provide a fascinating deep dive into how the Vatican determines just who gets to be called a saint. The process is a secretive one handled by the centuries-old Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. "We are a very peculiar court," Father Angelo Romano tells Kinstler. For example, "there is no point when a Cause will be dismissed, and there is no statute of limitations," he says. The court first examines the spiritual bona fides of a prospective saint in life, and, if it passes muster, moves on to the more controversial phase of verifying two miracles. And all of this unfolds in a process Kinstler likens to a political campaign.
"Who gets to be a saint is not just about holiness; it is about identity, politics, economics and geography," she writes. Canonization "has long been a way for the Catholic church to shape its image, and the Vatican has an incentive to approve candidates with useful profiles." Much of the piece deals with the modern difficulty of verifying medical miracles—every one since 1950 has been a "physical act of healing"—as science advances and provides the ability to explain what was once inexplicable. Of course, for the faithful, to "truly believe in miracles is to require no proof of their occurrence, and to know that one may transpire at any moment," observes Kinstler. Read the full story, which notes that Acutis is the first prospective saint to be buried in branded clothes—Nikes and a North Sails sweater. (Or read other longform recaps.)
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