Everyman

The Saintmakers (1992x11)

Air date: May 17, 1992

Saints are made in Rome - but the question of saintliness, and how it is defined by the Vatican, has always been controversial. Today, at St Peter's, the Pope's contentious beatification of Monsignor Josemaria Escriva, the founder of the Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, upholds that tradition. Britain and Ireland have their own contenders for the sainthood, like Cardinal Newman and Matt Talbot, a Dublin alcoholic who took the pledge. But why do some candidates get there faster than others and how is sanctity decided?