Cardinal Terence Cooke - Modern Day Saint?

In 1983, a very special man, known to millions of faithful Catholics as Cardinal Terence Cooke, left this world after a life devoted to the church, to life in all forms, and to making the world a better place than it was when he entered it (Cardinal Terence Cooke Guild, 2004). Those, whom he left behind, virtually from the day of his passing, came to the realization that Cardinal Cooke was no ordinary man; rather, his life of piety and leading by faithful example deemed him worthy of canonization, or the process leading to sainthood in the Catholic church. With the incredible life of this man in mind, as well as the road to sainthood for Cardinal Cooke, this research will discuss both topics. Upon conclusion of the paper, not only will a greater appreciation of the beauty of the life that Cardinal Cooke led be gained, but also an understanding of the process leading to sainthood will have been gained.

A Biographical Portrait of Cardinal Cooke

In order to truly comprehend and appreciate the heights to which Cardinal Terence Cooke rose in this life, a closer look at the story of his life is in order, an excellent snapshot of which is found in the archives of an organization which was founded after Cardinal Cooke¡¦s death to continue his ministry and advance his cause for sainthood (Cardinal Terence Cooke Guild, 2004). Terence Cooke was born on March 1st, 1921 in New York City, the third and youngest child of Irish immigrants. The early life of young Terence was greatly affected by the death of his mother when he was only nine years of age. While Terence Cooke was born into a family that was devout in its Catholicism to begin with, he developed an intense interest in the priesthood at a young age. The future Cardinal was ordained by Francis Cardinal Spellman on December 1, 1945, after completing seminary and college studies. As young priest, the then Father Cooke served as chaplain at Saint Agatha¡¦s Home for Children before going to the Catholic University of America for graduate studies in social work. From this point, Cooke advanced through a variety of positions within the Church, ultimately being consecrated bishop in 1965. The ecumenical journey of Cooke took an important turn in 1968, when Cardinal Spellman of New York passed away unexpectedly. The conventional wisdom within the Church held that one of the many highly experienced elders would be chosen by Pope Paul VI to replace the late Cardinal Spellman, but in a move which of course delighted Cooke and baffled many others, Bishop Terence Cooke became Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York at the relatively young age of forty seven as well as Military Vicar for the United States.

At an early age, Cardinal Terence Cooke found himself the Catholic leader of the city in which he was born and raised. Lest anyone think that this was a time for the young Cardinal to rest on his laurels, this period was only the beginning of an amazing life of faith and devotion to his Church and God. The America of the1960s was a time of war, unrest and rebellion against the established institutions of society, the Catholic Church chief among them. In response, the Second Vatican Council was convened in an effort to bring the church into a more modern way of conducting itself (Reeves, 2001). Embracing the changes that were sweeping over his Church and nation, Cardinal Cooke used the results of Vatican II to implement many innovative programs in order to better serve his people including the following (Cardinal Terence Cooke Guild, 2004):

Birthright, to give women an alternative to abortion,

Courage, to help men and women of homosexual orientation live fulfilling lives in accordance with the teachings of the Church,

The Inner-City Scholarship Fund to support inner-city Catholic Schools, and help children of all races and creeds.

An Archdiocesan Housing Development Program, to provide affordable housing to New York¡¦s low income citizens

Catholic New York (the Archdiocesan newspaper), to disseminate the Catholic perspective on world and local events.
Another area where Cardinal Cooke went above and beyond to serve his fellow human beings, he achieved a great deal in the area of the improvement of health care for terminally ill individuals, especially those with cancer. Under his leadership, over a dozen special hospitals were formed in an effort to better assist these people who were faced with the most serious challenge of their lives, and indeed, reaching the end of their lives as well. Additionally, Cardinal Cooke was a tireless advocate for the rights of the homeless, abused children, and anyone else who lacked the power or money to help them; basically, the Cardinal was a champion for those who needed a helping hand in any way possible.

After decades of helping the sick and dying, ironically enough, Cardinal Cooke waged his own battle against cancer for over a decade, until the disease claimed his life in 1983. By the time Cardinal Cooke left this world, the programs and efforts he spearheaded to advance basically all of humanity gave him an air of saint-like divinity in the eyes of many. For this reason, almost from the moment of his death, the cause to gain sainthood for him began. This cause is part of an ancient process which also must be understood to fully appreciate the effort to gain sainthood for Cardinal Cooke.
The Road to Sainthood

In 1983, the same year that Cardinal Cooke passed away, the top leadership of the Catholic Church set forth updated guidelines for the process by which canonization, the process of making an individual a recognized saint in the Church, is ultimately achieved. This refined process was laid out in the Divinus Perfectionis Magister, the Vatican decree ratified on January 25, 1983 (Vatican, 1983).

The Magister, nearly 10 pages long and containing a great deal of elaborate language, forms the framework within which all sainthood was to be granted from 1983 forward. The overriding idea of this framework is that there is a broad group of individuals who can now initiate the canonization process; to quote exactly from the document itself:

"Any member of the People of God or any group of the faithful recognized by ecclesiastical authority can exercise this function (Vatican, 1983, p. 1)". This statement is quite important, as it makes it possible for laypeople whose lives have been touched and transformed by a holy individual to take charge of an organized canonization process; in the case of Cardinal Cooke, of course, there are literally thousands of people who could step forward and attest to reasons why they feel that the Cardinal is worthy of being granted the special designation of sainthood, which is generally agreed to be the highest honor that can be bestowed on a mortal person on behalf of the Catholic Church (Bundy, 1997).

Having understood that there are a great many people who could start a canonization process, it is also important to understand what kinds of deeds, achievements, and activities are deemed to be worthy of giving someone the qualifications to be evaluated as a possible saint. Time wise, there is no limit on the date when the occurrences took place; either ancient or current day activities are suitable for consideration, but the individual who is being weighed for canonization must have passed away no sooner than five years from the date that the canonization process is commenced (Vatican, 1983).

Indeed, the entire life history of the canonization candidate is taken into account as a qualification for sainthood; this being said, the origins of an individual and the fact that they may have risen from challenging adversity to a level of holiness and greatness is something that is vitally important and gives great potency to one¡¦s canonization ¡§application¡¨ so to speak. It makes perfect sense that someone who came from an ordinary beginning and was able to achieve great and divine things in their lives must have gained a great deal of strength and inspiration from their personal relationship with God.

Martyrdom is still a very important criteria to consider in the quest for sainthood; the newly formed guidelines, like those of ages past, make extensive provisions for those who have given their lives in the name of God, the advancement of the church, and the assistance of others in need (Hess, 2002). In the early days of the church, many seemingly ordinary individuals summoned the courage and fortitude to literally give their lives for the advancement of their faith and the interests of others. While this is less common today, it still occurs, and is a very important pillar in the canonization process. The verification of martyrdom is typically done with the testimony of others who are qualified to offer such testimony and are reputable enough to be credible.

Another important distinction in the use of the term ¡§saint¡¨ must be made; in a world that is becoming more and more secular all of the time, ordinary people seem to idolize deceased entertainers, athletes and other celebrities to the point that they make these individuals saints, at least in their own limited evaluation of sainthood (Salamone, 2006). However, this should never be confused with the ancient canonization process which was updated in recent decades and continues to be reexamined with the passing years and the efforts to canonize modern day saints like Cardinal Cooke.

Overall, what can be said about the Magister as it was revamped in 1983 is that it provides a means by which modern individuals can be considered for sainthood in a fair, yet thorough manner, taking away a lot of the outdated dogma of the past and allowing for the essential goodness of potential saints, like Cardinal Cooke to be fairly seen (Mccarthy, 1993). With this in mind, the current status of Cardinal Cooke¡¦s journey toward becoming a saint is very relevant.

Current Status of Cardinal Cooke's Path to Sainthood

The supporters of the cause of making Cardinal Terence Cooke a saint have encouraged others to begin praying in earnest for the achievement of sainthood for the Cardinal, using these words:

"Almighty and eternal Father, we thank you for the exemplary life and gentle kindness of your son and bishop, Terence Cooke. If it be your gracious will, grant that the virtues of your servant may be recognized and provide a lasting example for your people. We pray through Our Lord Jesus Christ your son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever. Amen" (Cardinal Terence Cooke Guild, 2004) .

The power of these words is indicative of the intense interest on the part of many people to promote Cardinal Cooke to the level of saint. Because of the development of the new process for sainthood, lay people have gained a great deal of power in the sainthood process. Also, in the case of the Cardinal, the literally thousands upon thousands of individuals that he was able to assist during his time on earth has provided a sort of holy army to petition the Catholic Church in this regard. This being said, the "status report" of this effort is worth examining.

The case for Cooke's sainthood is based on the example that he led in life; as a leader of his church, a servant of God, and a shepherd, helping along so many people who may not have even been able to exist without the assistance of Cardinal Cooke. Far beyond a community or even church leader, he set a stunning example of using one¡¦s God given abilities to make the world a better place.

A significant piece of information can be found in a statement once made by the late Pope John Paul II in speaking about Cardinal Cooke, whom he described as being "saintly" (Bottum, 2001). While this could be considered as just an offhanded statement by some if they were in fact the ones who said it, coming from the mouth of a man whom many likewise consider to be worthy of sainthood, it is quite a powerful proclamation. As a matter of fact, this was not a statement that was said out of sympathy after the Cardinal passed away, but was said within his own lifetime, motivated by nothing more than the urge to speak the truth about a man who exemplified holiness and goodness.

As of the time of the writing of this paper, The Cardinal Cooke Guild is in the process of conducting extensive interviews with those who are making claims of Cooke's divinity, the compiling of documents which prove the many achievements of Cooke's life and ministry, and the things that the Cardinal did in his life that can truly be considered godly.

From the study of Cardinal Cooke¡¦s life, the goal will be to be able to establish that in fact there were miracles which he performed, which is a significant element that must exist for sainthood to be granted to Cardinal Cooke. With this in place, the case for sainthood will be all that much easier to be gained.

The aforementioned Cardinal Cooke Guild, which seeks to advance the sainthood case for him, should not be underestimated either as a localized effort in the New York area that he so faithfully served, or something that only a select few advocate; as of the date of this research, the Guild has members in all of the United States of America, many portions of Europe, and Asia (Sullivan, 2005). Essentially, anywhere that Catholics are found, there are those whose lives were directly touched by, or later influenced by, Cardinal Cooke. This speaks volumes not only to the first hand greatness that Cardinal achieved in file, but also what he has been able to achieve after death.

An Argument for Cardinal Cooke¡¦s Sainthood

Looking at the entire scope of Cardinal Cooke¡¦s life, from his humble beginnings on the streets of New York, the challenges he faced growing up without a mother, and his literally self made climb to the highest levels of the Catholic Church hierarchy, an impressive and godly life in itself emerges. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly however, his ability to save and enrich the lives of so many people can in some ways be considered a miracle. All in combination, these items make a strong case for the canonization of Cardinal Cooke. Aided by so many people who are devoted to his cause, the canonization process is sure to be smoother overall. He is truly worthy of sainthood from many points of view.

Conclusion

This paper has shown how the process of sainthood can be achieved and how one very special man, Cardinal Terence Cooke, has earned the right to be evaluated for sainthood. On a higher level, however, in conclusion, one should realize, and be reinforced by, the reality that godly people still exist in a world that is seemingly falling apart at the seams, and through faith, anything is possible.

References

Bottum, J. (2001, May). One Establishment Meets Another - Avery Dulles's Long Journey to the Catholic Cardinalate. The Atlantic Monthly, 287, 22.
Bundy, L. L. (1997). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 34(2), 248+.
Cardinal Terence Cooke Guild. (2004). The Cause for Canonization of Cardinal Terence Cooke. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Cooke Guild Web Site: http://www.terencecardinalcooke.com
Hess, H. (2002). The Early Development of Canon Law and the Council of Serdica. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mccarthy, J. P. (1993, April 12). St. Patrick's War. National Review, 45, 26+.
Reeves, T. C. (2001). The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books.
Salamone, F. A. (2006). The Making of Saints: Contesting Sacred Ground. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 12(1), 240+.
Sullivan, P. A. (2005). A Reinterpretation of Invocation and Intercession of the Saints. Theological Studies, 66(2), 381+.
Two Men for This Season. (1984, March 9). National Review, 36, 21.
Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints. (1983, January). Divinus Perfectionis Magister. Retrieved April 2, 2007, from The Vatican Web Site: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia