Bishop Larry Silva signs a document closing the diocesan phase of the canonization process of Joseph Dutton as Msgr. Robert Sarno, episcopal delegate for the cause for canonization, looks on. (HCH photo | Jennifer Rector)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The cause for the canonization of a possible third saint to emerge from the sanctified slip of land called Kalaupapa took a big step forward, Jan. 21, an 8,000-mile step, from the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu to the Vatican in Rome.
The candidate — layman, Civil War soldier, veteran, divorcee, patriot, recovered alcoholic, convert, penitent, dresser of sores, missionary, friend of St. Damien — Joseph Dutton.
Bishop Larry Silva celebrated the noon cathedral Mass which marked the end of the cause’s diocesan research phase of collecting evidence of the “life, heroic virtues, reputation of holiness and intercessory power, of the servant of God, Joseph Dutton, layman.”
The documentation is organized and indexed, ready to face the scrutiny of Vatican experts and churchmen who, if they find the cause worthy, will forward it to the pope for approval. After that it will be in God’s hands, as miracles are required for the final steps of beatification and canonization.
Msgr. Robert. J. Sarno, the cause’s Episcopal Delegate, explained the saint-making process to the congregation, giving them a peek at the Catholic Church’s legalistic side.
“So what we are doing here today is bringing that entire process collecting evidence to a close,” he said, after directing the swearing and signing of oaths by the officials in the diocesan stage “that they fulfilled their tasks faithfully and seriously, and that the information they gathered is true and authentic.”
Those officials were Bishop Silva; diocesan judicial vicar Father Mark Gantley, the Promoter of the Cause; Father Siegfred Dosdos, the Diocesan Postulator or primary advocate of the cause; Msgr. Sarno; and the diocese’s Moderator of the Tribunal Roxanne Torres as notary.
All, including Bishop Silva, two years ago “solemnly” swore to “faithfully and carefully execute the duty” given to them. The ceremony on Jan. 21 was a closing confirmation that they had done so.
“Our inquiry is definitively concluded and documentary evidence collected,” Msgr. Sarno said.
“What will happen after this is we will be bringing all of the evidence that we’ve gathered to Rome,” about 2,000 pages worth.
The monsignor had already sent part of the package to the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints in Rome before the Jan. 21 Mass. He personally delivered the rest last week.
A copy of the results of the diocesan inquiry will be “closed, sealed and stored in the ‘secret’ archive of the diocesan chancery, and never be opened without the express approval of the Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints and of the Bishop of Honolulu,” he said.
“I can tell you, we have a very good case. But the process is not over. Keep it in your prayers,” Msgr. Sarno said.
“The people that I really have to thank would be the Joseph Dutton Guild under the leadership of Dr. Maria Devera,” he said. “Honestly, without Maria, I could not have done it.”
He also thanked the three-person historical commission who collected the bulk of the data — Joan Lewis of Rome, Father John Paul Kimes of the University of Notre Dame and Patrick Boland of Hawaii.
Msgr. Sarno, with Father Mark Gantley and Roxanne Torres, also collected the testimony of 25-30 witnesses, an effort that brought him to Stowe, Vermont, Dutton’s birthplace and childhood home until he turned 4 when the family moved to Wisconsin.
“At the (Rome) dicastery, the process will begin of studying and preparing a position paper on his heroic virtues,” Msgr. Sarno said. “That takes time.”
One milestone
Dr. Maria Devera president of the Joseph Dutton Guild said she felt very good about the progression of the cause and happy that it has moved to the Rome phase.
“This is one milestone,” she said, “and there are more milestones to come.”
She is confident that the cause will advance quickly now that it is in Vatican hands and that a Roman postulator for the cause has been named and held in high regard by Msgr. Sarno.
“Things are moving,” she said.
Bishop Silva is optimistic that the process will result in a third Molokai saint.
“I’m very grateful to the Lord to have the privilege of participating in this historic event,” he said, “and to Msgr. Robert Sarno, who really advanced the cause, and to the Joseph Dutton Guild.”
“So we will see what happens next in Rome, but we’re very hopeful that he will soon be declared blessed and a saint,” he said. “In any case, he’s certainly worthy of imitation, whether he is declared a saint or not, and we pray for his intercession, that we may better serve the Lord and those who are most in need.”
The Diocese of Honolulu got the sainthood ball rolling in December 2015 when it established the Joseph Dutton Guild to petition the diocese to start the formal cause of beatification and canonization.
In 2019, Bishop Silva invited Msgr. Sarno into the process. The priest, who was retiring after 38 years working for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican, had assisted in the canonizations of Father Damien, Mother Marianne and Mother Teresa of Kolkata.
The monsignor pointed out to the bishop that he lived in Brooklyn, a 12-hour plane ride to Hawaii. But after the bishop’s assurance that “we can make it work,” he said “yes” and succeeded, with a lot of help from the Internet.
On May 10, 2022, the diocese opened a formal cause for canonization at a Mass in the cathedral basilica. Joseph Dutton was given the title “Servant of God.”
For the past year and a half, a tribunal of diocesan officials gathered eyewitness and documentary evidence about his life, his heroic exercise of Christian virtues, well as his “reputation of holiness” and of “intercessory power.” The search for information started in Honolulu, moved to Molokai and eventually went back to Stowe, Vermont, where Dutton was born on April 27, 1843.
Pope gets final word
At the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints in the Vatican, historical and theological consultors will judge the historical veracity of the papers. Then the dicastery’s cardinals and bishops will determine whether the Servant of God Joseph Dutton lived a life of truly heroic virtues.
If positive, the dicastery will forward its assessment to the Holy Father for a final judgment. Papal approval will earn Dutton the title “Venerable Servant of God.”
The next step calls for a miracle. Literally.
For Joseph Dutton to be beatified, that is declared “Blessed,” the church requires a miracle granted by God through the candidate’s intercession. Any claim of a miracle, usually an inexplicable medical cure that science cannot explain, must go through rigorous examination. A second miracle is required for canonization or sainthood.
Beatification and canonization in the Catholic Church involve thorough due diligence. There is no guarantee that the process will result in Dutton’s beatification or canonization.
Attending the Mass were visitors from Stowe, Vermont, Janesville, Wisconsin, where his family moved when he was 4, New York and Georgia.
Also present was Audrey Toguchi, the Aiea retired teacher whose cure from cancer was the miracle that earned St. Damien’s canonization.
Dutton was born Ira Barnes Dutton. In Janesville, in 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, at age 18, he enlisted in the 13th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteer Regiment.
He married, but his wife left him, and he became a functioning alcoholic. He quit drinking in 1876 and converted to Catholicism in 1883, taking the name Joseph. He spent 20 months at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, a Trappist monastery in Bardstown, Kentucky.
Dutton went to Molokai on July 29, 1886, to help Father Damien and to atone for his dissolute life. St. Damien affectionately called his American assistant “Brother.”
Dutton helped Father Damien until the priest’s death three years later in 1889, and remained in Kalaupapa for an additional 42 years, administering the Baldwin Home for boys and men. St. Marianne during that time cared for girls and women at Bishop Home.
When Dutton became ill toward the end of his life, he was transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Honolulu where he died on March 26, 1931. His grave lies next to that of St. Damien on the grounds of St. Philomena Church in Kalawao.
The Joseph Dutton Guild
The Joseph Dutton Guild’s mission is to promote the Cause of Canonization of the Servant of God Joseph Dutton that will lead to the beatification and canonization of the Servant of God.
The guild seeks to make people more aware of the dedication and service of the Servant of God Joseph Dutton to the poor and abandoned and inspire them to emulate his lively faith and active charity.
Visit the Joseph Dutton Guild website at www.josephdutton.org.
