{"id":18815,"date":"2017-03-21T06:39:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T06:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood-64839\/"},"modified":"2017-03-21T06:39:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-21T06:39:00","slug":"in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/","title":{"rendered":"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint.<\/p>\n

\u201cFather Paul started a small week of prayer on the top of a mountain in Garrison, and now it\u2019s a worldwide movement,\u201d Father Brian Terry, S.A., the minister general for the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, told the Catholic New York newspaper.<\/p>\n

Fr. Wattson helped launch the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is now an international event held in January.<\/p>\n

The Archdiocese of New York concluded an 18-month investigation into his cause for canonization on March 9. Fr. Wattson\u2019s writings, along with writings about him, were collected together, boxed and wrapped and sealed with Cardinal Timothy Dolan\u2019s seal.<\/p>\n

With the archdiocese\u2019s investigation finished, the materials will now be reviewed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This could determine whether he can proceed to beatification and even canonization.<\/p>\n

Fr. Terry briefly spoke with Pope Francis about Fr. Wattson in November. He said he gave the pontiff a prayer card, and the Pope \u201creally seemed sincerely interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said a saint of unity, a saint of healing, a saint of charity, that is something that is important,\u201d the priest recounted.<\/p>\n

Fr. Terry said that Fr. Wattson\u2019s message has been absorbed locally in New York. He hopes that message can go worldwide.<\/p>\n

Fr. Wattson was born in 1863 and was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1886. He co-founded the Franciscan Society of the Atonement with Episcopal Sister Lurana White in Garrison, N.Y. The society consisted of both friars and sisters who wanted to promote Christian unity. Though it was originally Episcopal, the society became Catholic when Fr. Wattson converted in 1909. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1910.<\/p>\n

He passed away in 1940 at the age of 77.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Dolan said the progress in Fr. Wattson\u2019s cause was \u201can affirmation from above.\u201d He voiced gratitude to God and to those who worked on the priest\u2019s cause.<\/p>\n

The U.S. bishops approved his cause for canonization in November 2014 and the cause formally opened in September 2015 at the New York Catholic Center.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Msgr. Douglas Mathers, pastor of St. John the Evangelist-Our Lady of Peace parish in Manhattan, served as the archdiocese\u2019s episcopal delegate for the cause. He said there is no time limit on the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cRealistically, it\u2019s the work of God; what God wants is going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint.<\/p>\n

“Father Paul started a small week of pra…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nIn New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Priest_Credit_Neville_Elder_1_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CNA Daily News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/\",\"name\":\"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\"},\"description\":\"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1\",\"name\":\"CNA Daily News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"CNA Daily News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood","description":"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood","og_description":"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/","og_site_name":"Catholic News","article_published_time":"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/images\/Priest_Credit_Neville_Elder_1_Shutterstock_CNA.jpg"}],"author":"CNA Daily News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CNA Daily News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/","name":"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-21T06:39:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1"},"description":"New York City, N.Y., Mar 21, 2017 \/ 12:39 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Catholic convert who founded the Society of the Atonement, Father Paul Wattson, S.A., could be one step closer to recognition as a saint. “Father Paul started a small week of pra...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2017\/03\/in-new-york-catholic-convert-takes-a-step-toward-sainthood\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In New York, Catholic convert takes a step toward sainthood"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/","name":"Catholic News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/35d4bd7addc580050842c844a11575f1","name":"CNA Daily News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8f1180c7dca7995d4a997aac72a3a88a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"CNA Daily News"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/author\/cna-daily-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1031"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}