As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, a California-based initiative is working to help speed along sainthood causes among Americans, and to make the canonisation process more accessible overall. Source: OSV News.
“We’ve gotten hundreds of inquiries from people all around the world saying how great this thing is, and saying how it’s so comforting to have a resource like this,” Travis Degheri, executive director of the Center for Sainthood Studies, said.
Opened in 2025 under a decree from Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, the independently operated centre is located at St Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
Mr Degheri said he and six part-time staff, along with several volunteers, seek to be a “resource to help people” advance canonistion causes.
“We could use more saints,” he said.
Among the resources offered by the centre are digitisation and storage of the extensive documentation required for a canonisation cause, as well as assistance with grant writing to help fund sainthood efforts.
The centre also provides consultation, support in promoting causes and a certification program for clergy, laity and religious seeking to educate themselves on the ins and outs of the complex process by which the Catholic Church affirms sainthood.
Mr Degheri said his own experience in working on the canonisation cause for Cora Evans — a US convert from Mormonism — led him to pursue the centre’s creation.
“Working on the cause, struggling and making and learning from our mistakes, led us to found this centre to help people throughout this process,” he said.
“We saw it as an opportunity, especially in the United States, where saints are very underrepresented in relation to other areas. We saw it as an opportunity to help inform people on the process, and hopefully give them the guidance, support and motivation to work on these causes.”
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‘We need more saints’: Center helps to advance canonization causes (By Gina Christian OSV News)
