Update on Bishop Alphonse
Gallegos
*
Fr. Eliseo González, OAR,
secretary of the beatification commission,
stands beneath portrait of Bishop Gallegos.
Fr. Eliseo Gonzalez, OAR, is
secretary of the commission appointed at the time of the introduction of the
cause of beatification of Bishop Alphonse Gallegos. With the approach of the 1st anniversary of the introduction of the cause of Bishop Gallegos, Fr. Eliseo reports on the work he has been doing as secretary.
The closing of the initial
phase for the process of beatification and canonization of Bishop Alphonse
Gallegos is scheduled to take place on November 5, 2006, and will be celebrated
with a 1:00 PM Mass, presided by Bishop William Weigand of Sacramento, California, in Sacred Heart Cathedral. This date coincides with
what would have been the 25th anniversary of the Bishop’s ordination
to the episcopacy—November 4, 1981—in the same cathedral.
The whole process began with
the opening of the “diocesan phase” on December 3, 2005. Since then, much material
has been gathered: newspaper articles, interviews with witnesses who knew the
bishop, as well as personal, medical and school records. The testimonies have
been transcribed and signed by the witnesses, testifying to the truth of what
they have said regarding Bishop Gallegos.
All the material on the
bishop’s life that has been gathered during this past year will be presented to
the
Vatican
after this celebration. It will be reviewed, as protocol requires, over the
next 2-3 years. Many other causes, of course, are also being considered and
this will affect the length of time to complete the review of “our” cause.
After the review is complete the competent Church authorities will inform us if
the material that has been presented is worthy of consideration as supporting
the cause of Bishop Gallegos. If the results are positive, he will then receive
the title of “Venerable” and we will then pray for verifying miracles through
his intercession. If miracles occur they will be documented and presented. One
authenticated miracle would be necessary to declare Bishop Gallegos “Blessed”
and another for his canonization as “Saint”.
I traveled to
Sacramento
July
31-August 2, 2006, in order to go through the diocesan archives and sort out pertinent
photographs and newspaper articles. I returned to
Sacramento
September 5-8 for the signatures
of the witnesses who testified on the Bishop’s behalf. I then traveled to
New York
, September
11-15, for signatures of witnesses on the East Coast, and to check the
provincial archives. During the coming weeks I will return to
Los Angeles
to gather the rest of the
signatures of witnesses on the West Coast.
Things are looking very good—in
this Secretary’s humble opinion! People have been consistent in their
testimony, describing the Bishop’s availability, humility, optimism,
compassion, and his warm and caring smile. From
Sacramento
,
to
New York
to
Los Angeles
, people seem to be describing the
same person.
The biography of Bishop
Gallegos should be coming out shortly, making his life better known to all the
faithful.
We have pushed to finish this
process as quickly as possible, in order to coincide with the Bishop’s
anniversary.
May God bless our work
regarding this important process. With the help of
Frs. Samson Silloriquez (our postulator general), John
Oldfield (author of the Gallegos biography), Fidel Hernández,
James Brown, Domingos Machado, and Br. Jorge
Valdivia, we hope to bring this work to a successful and worthy conclusion.
Fr. Eliseo Gonzalez, OAR
*For the story of the opening of the beatification process see website
Archives and Videos.
Fr. Eliseo interviewing a witness regarding the life of
Bishop Gallegos at Tagaste Monastery.
|
Fr John Gruben, OAR (l.) joins Fr. Eliseo,
in front of a small statue of Bishop Gallegos.
|
Fr. John,
in the presences of Fr. Eliseo, signs his testimony
concerning the life of Bishop Gallegos.
