The beatification of the Spanish queen Isabel la Católica, blocked by various doubts for years, “goes ahead.” This was confirmed by the Vatican to a delegation chaired by the archbishop of Valladolid, Luis Argüello. The religious was accompanied by a group of pilgrims who arrived this week in Rome to promote the cause.
Argüello explained that the delegation met informally with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the dicastery for the Causes of Saints. It happened last Monday and during the meeting it was learned that the case is moving forward “and some steps to follow were specified.”
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“We have come to commemorate the 520th anniversary of the funerals that were held here in Rome on the occasion of the death of Isabella the Catholic. Our chapter’s primary purpose is to promote knowledge of the virtues of the Catholic queen and to see her one day elevated to the honor of the altars,” said the Grand Master and president of the chapter of noble knights and ladies of Queen Isabella the Catholic, José María. Gomez Gomez.
“That is why we have also come here, to push this project and this dream of ours and for the first pope to come from the New World to elevate it to the altars,” he told EFE.
Image of the “blessed” Isabel La Católica, “mother of America” @ComisionIsabel pic.twitter.com/P6Fw88Q5TV
— John of Austria (@KurtBravo) February 27, 2024
The entity he presides leads the pilgrimage to Rome of 80 people arriving from Spain, but also from Argentina, Puerto Rico and the United States, since there are many countries that hope that the Latin American pope will give the impetus to the beatification.
According to José María Gómez, “there are already two miracles that are medically approved. Then, when the Commission approves it, the step will be taken to declare the queen venerable and then immediately blessed. And, then, well, the canonization will be very soon.”
The Spanish queen’s file has been in Rome since 1972. In the 90s a commission of historians gave the go-ahead to continue, but since then it seemed blocked.
The then archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean Marie Lustiger, a Jewish convert to Catholicism, warned Pope John Paul II of the possible consequences of beatifying a queen who expelled the Jews from Spanish territory, as well as a reign with shadows over the discovery of America.
José María Gómez assures that the queen “submitted herself to the service of the Church and the popes” who were the ones who indicated the prohibition of Judaism in Spain.
Argüello explains that after the opening of the case, a delay was proposed out of caution. However, now very important material continues to be collected also about the first years of the Discovery, such as a recent doctoral thesis that proves that Isabel la Católica “highlighted that the indigenous people were children of God and had a soul and their dignity had to be recognized.”
During the audience, the archbishop gave the pope the minutes of the congress on “Elizabeth the Catholic and the evangelization of America.” They celebrated this in Valladolid in 2018, and he assured that Francisco urged them to move forward.
Now the word passes to Cardinal Semeraro who will transfer all the reports collected to the commission of theologians, which must decide if she meets the conditions to be declared “venerable” and then continue investigating for the approval of a miracle.
The commission of theologians and experts proposes a decree with its opinion to the pope, who then approves or disapproves the declaration.
