Posted on 08/11/2013 10:42:02 AM PDT by Lorianne
Author G. K. Chesterton, best known for his Father Brown stories, has been put on the path to sainthood – with the blessing of the Pope.
Just days before he was elected Pope in March, the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, wrote to a Chesterton society in Argentina approving the wording of a private prayer calling for his canonisation.
The Pontiff is said to be a fan of the author, one of whose most admired books was a life of St Francis of Assisi – whose name the Pope adopted.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yes!!!
If you haven’t seen the Chesterton show, Sundays at 9 on EWTN, you’re missing a real treat.
Chesterton’s writings are fantastic.
... but if he wasn’t a saint before his death, he won’t become one now.
So would he be St. Gilbert? St. Keith? St. G.K.?
There’s an excellent new BBC adaptation of the Father Brown stories. If it comes on BBC America or US cable, watch it.
The best is still the classic 1954 film with Alec Guinness and Peter Finch though.
I’m no Catholic, but for my part, I’d like to see Bill Clinton and Barack Obama “cannonized.”
I’ve read all of Chesterton’s works, but he is not deserving of being elevated to sainthood.
Well, neither was John Paul, but look what happened to his application.
“...you’re missing a real treat.”
I’m not even a Catholic but I try to watch it as often as I can. His writings and his philosophy are spot on.
That's wonderful. Dale Ahlquist really makes the show, and deserves a lot of credit for being Chesterton's Boswell. He's actually the president of The Chesterton Society. I've read a lot of Chesterton, and he's not as easy to read as Lewis. In addition, his writing is voluminous, since he wrote a lot for newspapers.
Ahlquist makes Chesterton accessible, and very enjoyable.
The process of canonization only makes public what already is.
I’ve considered Lewis the gateway drug to Chesterton :-)
How do you know?
That's how it worked for me, too.
Chesterton could become the patron saint of paradoxes. He sure seemed to like them.
He was a deep thinker, and one of the greatest critics of everything Modern. The cultural criticism that he wrote in the 20s and 30s is certainly applicable today.
“The process of canonization only makes public what already is.”
Actually, it does not. The process adds to what God proclaims true of all believers.
Very much so. Three of my favorite writers (for very different reasons) lived virtually parallel lifespans:
GK Chesterton: 1874 - 1936
Rudyard Kipling: 1865 - 1936
MR James: 1862 - 1936
While their subject matter and worldviews were rather different, all three seemed to be the last vestiges of an older, simpler world being relinquished to a more complex and less sane one.
As with many conservative commentators, Chesterton is often acquired taste. Similar to William Buckley and Rush Limbaugh, the depth of Chesterton's arguments can initially be quite off-putting (it was for me!). However, Chesterton's strict loyalty to scripture, Natural Law, and the Magisterium put him in an entirely different class. If he is eventually canonized, I would not be surprised if the wisdom and insight of his writings are enough for him to be considered for becoming a Doctor of the Church.
You do know Who canonized Sacred Scripture? Reject the Church, reject Scripture.
I absolutely know God worked through humans to inspire, write, circulate, preserve and order Scripture - most through His people, the Jews.
I am so, so very thankful to God for His unspeakable Gift of Christ and for His Holy Word that has all we need to lead us to salvation and mature us.
All for His own glory alone.
I should know because I am a member of the College of Ecclesiastical Cognizance.
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