With all the saints’ feasts, how it is determined which ones take precedence in the church’s calendar?
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI approved new guidelines for determining a hierarchical order for the mandatory celebration of saints’ feast days. The pope makes the determination on the calendar based on recommendations from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
Norms include giving special consideration to saints from a variety of countries and different categories such as laymen, married couples, priests and religious sisters. Saints are also chosen based on their universal appeal and significance.
The need to establish norms is more important that ever, since in his 26 years as pope, the late Pope John Paul II canonized almost 500 saints, compared to a little more than 300 saints who were canonized between the end of the 16th century and 1978, when Pope John Paul II’s pontificate began. Many saints’ feasts are limited to local celebrations.
