Beatification

At 10:30 a.m. Rome time on Thursday, May 4, 2017, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect for the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints. At this meeting, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate a decree stating that a miracle attribuable to the intercession of then-Venerable Servant of God Francis Solanus Casey had indeed occured. This was made public in a news release from the Holy See Press Office on the same day at noon Rome time. Shortly after the news was published in Italian by the Vatican, the Detroit Catholic broke the news to the English-speaking world. Later that day, a news conference was held at the Solanus Casey Center with the Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit and Capuchin Provincial Minister Michael Sullivan to formally announce the news of the beatification of Solanus Casey.

This meant that Solanus Casey would now be known as Blessed Solanus Casey and that the humble Porter of St. Bonaventure was one step away from sainthood. Following the Holy Father’s approval of a miracle attributed to Blessed Solanus’ intercession, the date for a celebration of a Mass of Beatification was set for November 18, 2017. The venue: Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. More than 70,000 people attended Mass from across the United States and from abroad. Millions more watched live on television and via livestream. The televised production would go on to receive a Michigan Emmy Award.

Beatification Mass