One the other hand we can go to the gutters of life and find a sinful scoundrel. When he responds to the Gospel, only one miracle (Biblical regeneration) makes him a Christian saint.

Here is the article, headlined "Slow track to sainthood"

When the Catholic Diocese moved Father Nelson Baker's remains to Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna in March, the hope was it would speed the fabled "Padre of the Poor" on the road to sainthood .

So far, the strategy has paid off in dramatically increased visits to the new tomb by faithful Catholics praying for Father Baker's intercession. And already at least three miracles are under investigation.

But the road to sainthood remains a long and difficult one. Witness the efforts to have Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska, founder of the Felician order, declared a saint.

When Lillian Halasinski was instantly cured of diabetes that had ravaged her left leg, the Felician Sisters knew within days that they might have one of the miracles they needed to canonize their founder.

When Frank McNaughton was brought back to life after his heart stopped, it was years before anyone told church officials they believed the late Monsignor Nelson H. Baker might have been responsible.

The difference in the situations was that the Catholic Church was aggressively seeking a miracle from Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska in 1984 when Mrs. Halasinski, a Dunkirk resident, prayed to her and claimed a cure.

Father Baker was not yet a candidate for sainthood when Frank McNaughton experienced his dramatic recovery in 1973.

The Halasinski and McNaughton cases demonstrate that the road to sainthood must be maneuvered skillfully. Declaring saints requires a unified effort. Success depends on who is pushing the cause, how well it is promoted and who is praying for miracles.

The experts say that sainthood for Father Baker now hinges on three factors: two cures for which there are no medical or scientific explanations, evidence that they were obtained by praying exclusively to Father Baker, and God's timetable.

And now that Father Baker is a candidate, more people are praying to him for miracles. The transfer of Father Baker's remains from Holy Cross Cemetery to Our Lady Victory Basilica was intended to focus more attention on his cause, and it made his burial place more accessible to those who wished to pray to him.

As many as 200 people a day visit Father Baker's crypt now that it is indoors, basilica officials say. Previously about two dozen people visited Father Baker's grave in Holy Cemetery.

Most visitors sign a petition asking the Vatican to approve the beatification of the priest who devoted his life to caring for "the orphan, the troubled, the abandoned, the sick and other needy."

Beth Donovan said Father Baker's cause is being promoted through direct mailings to 180,000 friends of and contributors to Our Lady of Victory Homes of Charity, through tour and travel guides and via an intenet Web site (www.ourladyofvictory.org).

"We are doing a lot more to advertise the basilica as a place to visit and pray to Father Baker," said Mrs. Donovan, public relations director for Our Lady of Victory Homes of Charity and the basilica. Visiting the basilica and praying to Father Baker are considered first steps in the process.

"What we need is a miracle," said Monsignor Robert C. Wurtz, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish, who is spearheading the effort to canonize Father Baker. There are "dozens upon dozens of stories" about miraculous cures attributed to Father Baker, he said, but only eight or 10 have been investigated since the canonization process began 12 years ago. The Vatican has not accepted any of them as a miracle.

"We are not sure they are going to pass muster. They need further investigation," said Bishop Henry J. Mansell, leader of the Buffalo Catholic Diocese, revealed last week.

Bishop Mansell said the new claims of miraculous cures have been made by "more than two people" and that most of the individuals involved live in the Buffalo area. One lives elsewhere in New York State. Vatican requirements of confidentiality prevent him from revealing additional detail, he said.

Regardless of the efforts exerted to obtain a miracle, the only timetable that counts is God's, said Monsignor Peter J. Popadick, pastor of St. Aloysius Parish of Cheektowaga.

"A miracle comes in God's time when he sees a need for a public witness of a Blessed Angela or a Father Baker," observed Monsignor Popadick, who also served on the Halasinski commission. However, having the prayer power of a worldwide religious order, like the 2,300 Felician Sisters who were praying for Mother Angela's cause, certainly can't hurt, said Monsignor Walter 0. Kern, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Bowmansville.

"The quality of prayer is important. There is no doubt that when you have a bunch of religious people like that (the Felicians), their prayer is going to be heard in heaven," said Monsignor Kern, who also serves as director of the diocesan archives. (End of article).

This is a tragic reminder, in this modern age, of what Roman Catholicism really is. We can listen to the Catholic apologists , who try to act as if Romanism were just another Christian religion. Then we read statements like the last paragraph of the article and compare it with scripture.

James 5:16 says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (and he wasn't talking about making saints. Monsignor Kern says that the prayer of "a bunch of religions people" is going to be heard in heaven.

Bishop Mansell, talking about the necessities for "Father" Baker's sainthood, said "We are not sure they are going to pass muster." That puts the onus for a potential saint squarely on the shoulders of human beings, who have things they have to DO in order to make Msgr. Baker a saint.

(It is bad enough believing there are things you must DO to realize your own sainthood; now the long dead priest must wait (patiently, I hope) for others to DO the right things to make him a saint.

I realize, of course, that the process of canonization is actually the recognizing of the sainthood of a person by the Catholic Church, which does believe there are people in Heaven that are not officially canonized. But in popular Roman Catholic jargon, canonization is thought of as "the making of a saint."

Monsignor Robert C. Wurtz, who is spearheading the effort to canonize "Father" Baker, said, "What we need is a miracle. This is certainly true. A miracle of God's Grace is what is needed for every Roman Catholic and every unsaved Protestant; in short, for everyone who is trying to DO something for their salvation.

"It took a miracle to put the stars in place. When He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace."

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