Why the Vatican Cannot Beatify Evita Perón

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The powerful labor union confederation felt that enough time had passed since Evita’s death and that the controversy surrounding her was a thing of the past, so it has requested beginning proceedings to beatify the iconic leader.

However, the Church did not share the unionists’ opinions, and has stated that preconditions for this to occur are not yet in place.

“According to sources interviewed, in addition to the humanitarian qualities that many may attach to her, such as her commitment to the poor – even in times of great illness – there is a lack of religious practice, doctrinal orthodoxy and a number of conditions that Eva Duarte de Perón evidently did not possess,” explained journalist Sergio Rubin in an interview with TN.

Thus, the mere belief in God or the foundation of her deeds under Christian doctrine would not be sufficient grounds to request Evita’s canonization.

On the other hand, Rubin recalled that this Thursday’s request is the second to be made regarding Eva. A few days after her death, on July 26th, 1952, the union of newspaper vendors sent a letter to the Vatican in which it called for the initiation of the appropriate procedure to proclaim her a saint, a request that was rejected by the Holy See.

Today, almost 70 years later, a new petition was received by Cardinal Poli.

What is the protocol for proclaiming someone a Saint?

According to the Church’s protocol, the nomination of a candidate is the first step towards beatification, which implies the request for the initiation of an action in the diocese where the individual passed away, in this case, the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

If the grounds behind the nomination are strong enough for the archbishop, he will embark on a thorough study of the nominee’s life, which, if successful, will allow him to name the individual as Servant of God and forward the case to the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of Saints.

If a second examination of the candidate’s trajectory shows that they lived their faith “to a heroic degree,” they will be declared “venerable,” and whether God worked a miracle through their intercession must be proven – which consists, in general, of an inexplicable cure. If so, the nominee will be beatified and, should a second miracle be proven, a Saint.

However, there are exceptions to this rule. The first occurs if the death of the nominated individual was a murder and it is proved that it was due to “hatred of the faith”. The second is due to the Pope’s power to exempt certain candidates from a miracle, such as Francis did in the case of John XXIII.

As for Eva Perón, the truth is that although many people consider her kindness and closeness to the neediest as sufficient conditions for her beatification, these are not enough for the Church to canonize her. This requires religious practice and doctrinal orthodoxy.

Source: TN