By Marta Lago

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Diocesan bishops will receive new instructions from the Holy See on the process of beatification and canonization, emphasizing the importance of a reputation of sanctity, says a Vatican official.

Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation of Saints' Causes, confirmed this in L'Osservatore Romano, announcing a document that the dicastery is preparing to release.

The document will explain changes that Benedict XVI made to the process of causes of canonization.

"Celebrating the rite in the native lands" of those elevated to the altar is the biggest change instituted by this pontificate, the cardinal said. "It draws the people of a given nation even closer to the universal Church."

The new document has "certain instructions on how to proceed in the examination of the admissibility of new cases, and about what to do to concretely begin and carry forward the diocesan phase of the process," Cardinal Saraiva Martins added. Thus, it can "better respond to the new spirit introduced by Benedict XVI in the procedures of the rites of beatification. It involves very important innovations, capable of effectively highlighting the theology of the local Church as it was energetically reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council."

Caution and precision

The cardinal emphasized that the beatification of a member of God's people should be a community event, "in a climate of faith that becomes joy and ecclesial celebration because one of their own has been elevated to the honor of the altars."

And, he said, precisely because of this importance and the fervor that such events elicit, "it is necessary to proceed with more caution and precision."

The prefect said that a process can begin if someone has renowned sanctity: "Without a reputation of sanctity, nothing gets under way. It is the faithful who indicate to the Church that a figure is exemplary."

"I don't deny that there can be other promoters, such as, perhaps, the justified sentiment of a religious family with their founder or a brother or sister," he said. But "without the impulse that flows from a reputation of sanctity, it is difficult to get the process under way."