To the editor:
The title of your page-one article, "New saints: New York’s finest" seems to be overlooking — again — Father Nelson Baker for canonization. I fail to understand this as Father. Baker has performed many miracles, yet Pope Paul XXII is being fast-tracked for sainthood even with all the cover-ups of priestly abuse of boys. Has the Vatican forgotten that Father Baker is from Lackawanna, NEW YORK? This really saddens me. I just cannot imagine what more they want and find it totally ridiculous.
Eileen E. Callahan
Wayland
EDITOR’S NOTE: The church’s process for naming someone a saint consists of three steps and generally takes many years to complete. The first step is an inquiry into the individual’s life and ministry, and — if heroic virtue is found — results in the person being named "venerable." This is the stage achieved thus far by the case of Msgr. Nelson Baker of the Diocese of Buffalo. For the next two steps — beatification and canonization — the church requires further investigation as well as confirmation of miracles attributed to the individual’s intervention. The Catholic Courier, newspaper of the Diocese of Rochester, has no direct connection to the Vatican or its procedures. The Courier’sMay cover story merely reported about the two New Yorkers for whom the entire sainthood process has been completed and who are scheduled for canonization later this year.
