Jesuit Saint Making: The Case of St. Peter Claver's Cause in Nineteenth-Century America
For centuries Christians had taken miraculous phenomena on faith, but in the aftermath of the sixteenth-century reformers and in light of certain Enlightenment tendencies, pious beliefs in the powers of saints came under serious strain. This merely invigorated the noted Jesuit missionary, Francis X....
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
American Catholic Historical Society
2006
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| In: |
American catholic studies
Year: 2006, Volume: 117, Issue: 4, Pages: 1-32 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | For centuries Christians had taken miraculous phenomena on faith, but in the aftermath of the sixteenth-century reformers and in light of certain Enlightenment tendencies, pious beliefs in the powers of saints came under serious strain. This merely invigorated the noted Jesuit missionary, Francis X. Weninger, who toured the United States extolling the cause of a recently beatified member of the Society of Jesus, Peter Claver, the so-called "Apostle to the Negroes," by using Claver's relics to bring about several healing miracles. These miracles continued the running battle on American soil against Protestant and secular disbelief and gave immigrant Catholics an additional rallying point for the distinctness of their faith within a pluralistic society. This article explores the contexts for making Claver a saint by focusing on the American miracles that were used in the formal promotion of his cause in Rome. Further, the essay points to the careful construction of the miracle narratives themselves and the role Jesuits like Weninger played in assuring their acceptance by church authorities. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8534 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American catholic studies
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