It’s another small hop forward on the long path to sainthood for Kalaupapa’s Servant of God Joseph Dutton. On March 30, Bishop Larry Silva of the Diocese of Honolulu announced that preliminary steps are now done and the first session of the “diocesan inquiry” into Dutton’s beatification and canonization cause will start.
Bishop Silva will hold a short ceremony to mark that step, during a May 10 Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu on the memorial of St. Damien De Veuster. St. Damien preceded St. Marianne Cope and Dutton in service on the Kalaupapa peninsula, where Hawaii Hansen’s disease patients were isolated for fear of the spread of what was once known as leprosy.
Dutton’s cause first began in the diocese back in 2015 with the formation of the Brother Joseph Dutton Guild. A canonization advocate or postulator was then appointed. In May 2021, Bishop Silva issued an edict saying there had been an official request to open Dutton’s cause and asked for anyone to submit “pertinent information” about Dutton to the diocese. In November 2021, the U.S. bishops agreed that Dutton’s sainthood cause should be advanced by the Diocese of Honolulu.
Dutton’s cause is currently in a phase of three inquiries — of the local faithful, of the bishops of the San Francisco province to which the Diocese of Honolulu belongs, and of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
The inquiry of the faithful seeks positive or negative information about the candidate’s potential for canonization, for example, testimony of a person’s private devotion to Dutton or an experience of his intercessory power in prayer.
If the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints finds nothing that would indicate the cause should not be introduced, it gives the cause a Nihil Obstat, allowing it to proceed.
The “formal” process begins when the postulator sends the petition to the Congregation and they accept it, Bishop Silva said.
After this current inquiry phase comes the “historical cause” in which the guild researches Dutton’s writings and historical information to help the postulator prepare the “positio,” the position paper regarding the cause, to be presented to the Congregation.
Bishop Silva has appointed Msgr. Robert J. Sarno as Episcopal Delegate, judicial vicar Father Mark Gantley as Promoter of Justice, and tribunal staffer Roxanne Torres as notary.
Members of the “historical commission of the cause” are Father John Paul Kimes as president, Patrick Boland and
Father Joseph Badding.
You can read the full March 30, 2022, announcement from Bishop Silva below.
Story updated April 7, 2022
ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE FIRST SESSION OF THE DIOCESAN INQUIRY FOR THE CAUSE OF BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION OF SERVANT OF GOD JOSEPH DUTTON, LAYMAN
I am happy to announce that, with the completion of preliminary steps, we are now going to proceed with the First Session of the Diocesan Inquiry for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of Servant of God, Joseph Dutton, Layman.
On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, I will celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 6:00 p.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, 1184 Bishop Street, Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the Memorial of St. Damien DeVeuster. At the end of the Mass, there will be a short ceremony to formally open the Diocesan Inquiry Phase of the cause of Servant of God Joseph Dutton.
The members of the Joseph Dutton Guild will be present, and the officials who will play various roles in the investigation of the cause will take their oaths of office.
It should be noted that beatification and canonization in the Catholic Church is a rigorous process, and there is no guarantee that the process will finally result in Joseph Dutton’s beatification or canonization. Nevertheless, many of the faithful in the Diocese of Honolulu and in other parts of the world have spoken favorably and are hopeful that Joseph Dutton’s holiness of life will be deemed by the Church to be worthy of public veneration and imitation. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will guide this process to its completion according to the will of God and for the good of his Holy Church.
Most Reverend Larry Silva
Bishop of Honolulu
March 30, 2022
