Yet with Rome, the grandeur and spectacle of it all somehow overwhelms and masks the fact that its trading on fundamentally the same motive that drives TMZ. It’s easy to make fun of the extremes of Americana religion, with Sister Aimee riding her motorcycle on stage, or Billy Sunday pitching a shutout against the devil. But the original religious celebrities are the canonized saints — even if they have permanently left the building.
—Brian Lee, “Pope Francis, TMZ, And Sainthood”
R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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Someone who tracks these things says that the Roman Catholic church has canonized more saints in recent years…The reason is they’ve done away with the office that used to challenge the claims to sainthood. See below from the U.S. Catholic web site…
Revisions to the canonization process in 1983 ensured we will see more saints in the future. John Paul II eliminated the office of Promoter of the Faith, or, as it’s more commonly known, the Devil’s Advocate, a canon lawyer tasked with arguing against a person’s possible canonization. Consequently, John Paul II canonized more saints than the popes from the previous 500 years combined.
Like popular culture Rome was and still is – ostentatious.