By Steve Neill
The Catholic Virginian
With the approval of the Holy See, the Diocese of Richmond has begun the process of seeking the canonization of a former diocesan seminarian who died in 1920 at age 22 while in theology studies at the North American College in Rome.
Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, after consultation with other bishops of the Baltimore province, has signed a decree which declares Francis Joseph Parater III “a servant of God” and establishes a Tribunal “to examine the reputation for sanctity and heroic virtues of Servant of God Frank Parater, Seminarian.”The decree, dated Jan. 24, 2002, is also signed by Anne C. Edwards, Chancellor of the diocese.
The decree marks the first time the Diocese of Richmond has ever initiated the process for canonization, said Father J. Scott Duarte, who has been appointed postulator. The postulator is one who seeks to gather information to be presented to a tribunal or court for examination.
If the quest for canonization is approved, the Church of Rome would declare Frank Parater a “saint” after a long process of the study of his life as a witness to Christ. The process of canonization is preceded by the process of beatification in which the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause of Saints declares that there has been an authentic miracle by which an individual has been healed after intercession to God through one who had died and is presumed to be in heaven. Proof of a second miracle is needed for canonization.
“The process is very complex,” said Father Duarte, himself a former seminarian at the North American College in Rome and, like Frank Parater, a native of Richmond. Last year, at the request of Bishop Sullivan, Father Duarte traveled to Rome where he inquired about the canonization process with Vatican officials.
“The process begins in the local church,” he explained. “We begin the process with the permission of the Vatican since he died outside the diocese.”
“The bishop has set up a tribunal which will examine the writings of Frank Parater, who has been declared a Servant of God,” Father Duarte said. A historical commission, under the tribunal, will be organized to study the life of Frank Parater “from the point of view of history,” he added.
Born Oct. 10, 1897 in Richmond, Frank Parater III was educated in Catholic schools. While a student at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, he decided to seek the diocesan priesthood. Bishop Denis J. O’Connell assigned him to study at the North American College in Rome.
Bishop Sullivan told The Catholic Virginian that he chose to begin the process of canonization of Frank Parater after becoming more familiar with his life through writings turned over by his family members when the diocesan Archives were organized.
“With the development of our archives, I became much more aware of the Frank Parater story and I was very impressed with this outstanding person,” the bishop said.
He cited the seminarian’s Act of Oblation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus which he wrote and then sealed, to be opened only upon his death. The seminarian died of rheumatic fever on Feb. 7, 1920, 11 days after becoming ill. He was buried in Rome in the mausoleum of North American College’s Camp Verano.
The Act of Oblation was discovered by a fellow Richmond seminarian, Frank Byrne, who went through Frank Parater’s effects and found the sealed and marked envelope. That seminarian became Msgr. Francis J. Byrne, the founding pastor of St. Bridget parish in Richmond who died in 1994, more than 74 years later.
In the oblation Seminarian Parater wrote:
| “I have nothing to leave or give but my life and this I have consecrated to the Sacred Heart to be used as he wills. I have offered my all for the conversion of non-Catholics in Virginia. This is what I live for and in case of death what I die for. . . Since my childhood, I have wanted to die for God and my neighbor. Shall I have this grace? I do not know, but if I go on living, I shall live for this same purpose; every action of my life here is offered to God for the spread and success of the Catholic Church in Virginia. . .I shall be of more service to my diocese in Heaven than I can ever be on earth.” |
Bishop Sullivan also spoke of Frank Parater’s “Open Letter to the Scouts of Richmond” which was marked and sealed in a similar manner. Bishop John J. Russell named a diocesan summer camp for boys after Frank Parater. Camp Parater, located in Caroline County, closed in the 1970s.
Bishop Sullivan wrote to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints with evidence gathered by Father Duarte. Cardinal Joseph Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation, granted permission for the diocese to proceed and granted the nihil obstat (Latin for “nothing stands in the way”) of the Holy See on May 8, 2001.
“This is a canonical way of saying ‘you may proceed,’” Bishop Sullivan explained. According to Father Duarte, Frank Parater’s Act of Oblation caught the attention of Pope Benedict XV who had it published in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, and Pope Pius XI who “had it copied for his own edification.”
Father Duarte, in his role as postulator, is seeking additional information on Frank Parater which may advance the cause of his beatification. “We’re looking for letters, documents and articles people may have which would be of help to us,” he said.