Allentown, Pa., Mar 20, 2012 / 20:27 pm
The inquiry into the sainthood cause of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., a missionary who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union for 23 years, has taken a “major step forward” with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints issuing a declaration that the investigation is valid.
“This breakthrough in the process is very encouraging and a testimony to the commitment and dedication of all those involved,” Bishop John Barres of Allentown said March 19.
The Diocese of Allentown’s investigation into the priest’s life, virtues and reputation for sanctity is valid, the congregation declared. The congregation transferred responsibility for the cause to the Diocese of Allentown from the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, N.J., in 1996.
The diocese’s inquiry into Fr. Ciszek’s reputation for holiness collected materials and documentation, including testimony from 45 witnesses. It also gathered the priest’s published and unpublished works and forwarded them to Rome in 2006. At the congregation’s request, in 2011 it sent additional documentation from the Father Ciszek Center in Shenandoah and from the Jesuit archives in the U.S. and Rome.