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According to Nate Tinner-Williams for the Black Catholic Messenger, the cause for beatification and canonization of Fr. Martin de Porres Maria Ward has received Vatican approval.
“As of July 1, we received notice, through the Brazilian Historical Commission, that we have official approval from the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints,” [Br. Douglas McMillan] told BCM. “We are now in the process [of] working on putting together the final copy of the positio for the dicastery.”
This marks an important first step, as the Vatican needs to approve a cause of canonization before it can ever be considered or reviewed.
It is now up to the Diocese of São João del Rei to provide the Vatican with a complete biography of Fr. Ward's life. The Vatican will then review the biography and determine if he lived a life of "heroic virtue," after which he would be declared "venerable."
Who was Fr. Ward?
Brian O’Neel for the National Catholic Register provides this brief explanation of his upbringing:
The Servant of God, born in 1918 as Matthias DeWitte Ward in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood to an interracial couple, grew up as a Methodist. During his childhood, he, his parents and 11 siblings moved to Washington, D.C., where he experienced prejudice from both whites and Blacks.
When he was a teenager Ward started to attend Mass with a friend and converted to the Catholic faith when he was 17 years old. He was confirmed in St. Matthew Cathedral in 1940.
He ended up in Brooklyn and there joined the Franciscan Conventual Friars Minor.
Ward was ordained a priest in 1955, but many bishops in the United States would not allow African American priests to serve in their diocese.
This prompted Ward to travel to Brazil as a missionary instead of serving in the United States.
The Black Catholic Messenger explains, "He is revered as a uniquely holy figure in Brazil, where he worked for more than four decades as a missionary teacher, pastor, vocations promoter, spiritual director, and chaplain. He was christened a 'Citizen of Andrelândia' in 1995, an honor named after the municipality in Southeast Brazil where he worked for most of his priesthood. Four years later, Ward suffered a series of heart attacks and died at the age of 81."
Fr. Ward joins four African Americans who are on the road to sainthood.
