New Pope, new rules

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 28, 2006

Ed Peters, who runs an informative blog on canon-law issues, thinks that yesterday's story, about Pope Benedict's new, tougher standards for beatification, is much more important than it might seem at first glance. I think he's right:

Of those matters we know anything about (an important qualification when discussing papal activities), Benedict XVI's letter to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints seems to me to be one of the most important things he's done to date. It is certainly shows the clearest difference between him and John Paul II to emerge so far. Benedict XVI could have communicated his concerns about the beatification and canonization process in a simple telephone call; instead he wrote a short treatise on the topic. The world was meant to take notice.

Ed's full explanation is here.