Setback In Chesterton Sainthood Cause

Tonight at the opening session of the American G.K. Chesterton Society conference, president Dale Ahlquist read to the crowd a letter from the Catholic Bishop of Northampton (Chesterton’s diocese), giving his decision about the cause to beatify the English writer.

It’s not going to happen. The bishop said in his letter that there is no local cult of Chesterton veneration, which is the usual thing for a new saint, and therefore a problem for GKC. Second, the bishop found no sustained evidence for heroic sanctity in Chesterton’s character. And third, the bishop was concerned about allegations that GKC was anti-Semitic.

(I may have gotten some details wrong; I was sitting near the back, and couldn’t hear well. I’ll correct the report if I did.)

So that’s where it stops for now. Dale Ahlquist left the door open for continuing the push, perhaps with a new bishop who may be more friendly to GKC.

This will be a great disappointment to lovers and admirers of Chesterton. I doubt there was a single person in the room tonight here in Kansas City who doesn’t believe that GKC is a saint. Here’s an interview Crux did with Dale Ahlquist earlier this year, in which Dale talked about how GKC was a saint.

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