What does Beatification mean?
The church bestows the title Blessed on a person whose life has been proved to be extraordinarily holy. This permits the people to publicly honour the person beatified and to use a special Eucharistic liturgy and liturgical prayer. The public veneration is usually limited to a diocese, region or nation. In the case of Mary MacKillop it means that all Australians may publicly honour her. Beatification is not an infallible statement but it does assure a moral certainty that the person has lived a life of heroic virtue. What steps are required before Beatification? There are four things that need to be done at the local level where a person is appointed to be ‘a Diocesan Postulator’. This role involves the task of overseeing the evidence and introducing the Cause. • (a) In the Diocese where the person died an initial enquiry on the sanctity (holiness) of the person is begun. After Mary MacKillop’s death, Cardinal Moran said that he had assisted at the death of a saint. (b) It must be esta
