Léon Dehon
Roman Catholic Church | |
---|---|
Orders | |
Ordination | 18 December 1868 by Costantino Patrizi Naro |
Personal details | |
Born | Léon-Gustave Dehon 14 March 1843 |
Died | 12 August 1925 Brussels, Belgium | (aged 82)
Sainthood | |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
Title as Saint | Venerable |
Léon-Gustave Dehon, SCJ (14 March 1843 – 12 August 1925), also known as Jean of the Sacred Heart, was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (the Dehonians).[1][2]
Dehon's focus in his ecclesial life was to express his closeness with workers but he especially promoted a devotion to the
He established an order in 1878 dedicated to this task and to working in the foreign and diocesan missions in France and abroad. But impediments caused the order's dissolution. Dehon later reformed and reestablished it in 1884, leading the order until his death. It expanded to North and South America in the early 20th century.[5][1]
The process for his beatification started in 1952. It was revived in the late 20th century, and information gathering included documentation of a miracle in South America. The process was halted in 2005 due to allegations by both clerical and secular sources that his published works were
Life
Education
Léon-Gustave Dehon was born in La Capelle in
In 1855 he was sent to the college at
His father sent him on a long tour of the East (including
Dehon obtained a bachelor of sciences on 16 August 1860. He began his religious studies at the
Priesthood
Dehon was
Dehon served as stenographer at the
He had begun feeling drawn to communal
His new order grew at a rapid pace, but misunderstandings about their mission attracted undue opposition. The order officially disbanded on 3 December 1883 with Dehon feeling (in his words) "torn to shreds".
It was founded as the
Dehon ensured that another focus of the order was to promote a special devotion to
In 1889 Dehon started a magazine called Reign of the Sacred Heart. Though the Dehonians had secured the support of Leo XIII and his successors, until Pope Pius XI Dehon and the order's priests were accused of slander and various other charges. Dehon was criticised for his behaviour and relations with the diocese overall.[2] He participated in congresses and conferences and founded new houses. He was especially noted for hearing confessions for long hours at a time.
Dehon began the construction of the Basilica del Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re in Rome (18.05.1920). Pius X had said of Dehon in 1906: "We are looking for saints. Here is one that is being born". Pius XI granted his order definitive papal approval in 1923.[5]
In 1906 the order's
Death
In December 1914 Dehon drafted his
Controversial publications
Dehon was noted as a prolific writer. He often wrote articles for various newspapers and periodicals on a wide range of different social issues, as well as devotional subjects such as the Sacred Heart. The latter was a predominant theme in several of his published works.
In the 21st century, the process of beatification of Dehon was underway and the first step was approved. But in 2005 serious allegations were made regarding Dehon's works. Dehon was alleged to have been
On 5 February one French historian drew attention to seven controversial texts in which Dehon expressed anti-Semitic opinions. The French paper La Croix published extracts, in which Dehon wrote:
- Jews were "thirsty for gold"
- Jews' "lust for money is a racial instinct in them"
- The Talmud is "a manual for the bandit, the corrupter, and social destroyer"
Dehon also suggested in his writings that Jews should wear special markings, that
In his 1898 "Social Catechism", he said that
Beatification process
The beatification process opened in the
Dehon's beatification depended upon a miracle being approved. These miracles are most often documented healings of a miraculous nature in which medicine and science fail to explain the healing. The case chosen came from Lavras. It was investigated from 1961 until some point later; another process of investigation was opened and closed in the same location in 1965. The miracle in question related to the healing of electrician Geraldo Machado da Silva from a grave case of peritonitis on 1 June 1954; he had invoked Dehon's intercession in prayer.[6]
The C.C.S. validated this process on 4 October 2002, and medical experts approved the healing as a miracle on 15 May 2003. Theologians approved it also on 21 November 2003 after confirming the miracle came after Dehon's intercession was invoked. The CCS confirmed the findings of the two boards on 20 January 2004. John Paul II confirmed the healing as a miracle on 19 April 2004, and confirmed that Dehon would be beatified.
The current postulator for this cause is the Dehonite priest José Briñón Domínguez.
Suspension
Dehon's beatification cause has been suspended. Initially it was postponed from a 24 April 2005 date because of the death of John Paul II three weeks prior. But the Vatican later announced that the beatification was placed on hold due to allegations of Dehon having expressed anti-Semitism by both clerical and secular individuals and organizations.
Before John Paul II's death in 2005, Cardinal
Further developments
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Leo Dehon (1843-1925)". Holy See. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Venerable Leo Gustav Dehon". Saints SQPN. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Venerable Leo Dehon". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Learn About Our Founder". Priests of the Sacred Heart U.S.A. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g "DEHON, LÉON GUSTAVE, VEN". New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2003. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Washington Post. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
- ^ a b "In Defense of the Founder of the Dehonians". Zenit. 3 July 2005. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "Pope backs sainthood candidacy of allegedly anti-Semitic priest". The Times of Israel. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ a b c Lisa Palmieri-Billig (11 July 2015). "Founder of the Dehonians" Now only Francis can decide". La Stampa. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
- ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 132.