Saints for our day? (signs of the times).

News that the Vatican had cleared the way for the canonizations of Juan Diego, witness to the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe; stigmatist Padre Pio; and Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, met with mixed reactions.

"The three figures all reflect the complex political considerations that inevitably enter into the making of saints," says Robert Ellsberg, author of All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (Crossroad). "It's fair to ask not simply about the holiness of the saint in question, but about the message his canonization conveys: What model of the church, what style of spirituality, what approach to evangelization is served by holding up this example? All three men are the subject of very lively cults, and so their canonization is not surprising. But this does not mean there is universal consensus about the meaning and value of their examples."

Blessed Juan Diego first saw Mary on a Mexican hilltop in 1531. After a glowing imprint of her on his cloak persuaded the bishop that she had indeed appeared, a church was built on the site, thousands of indigenous Mexicans became Christian, and Our Lady of Guadalupe was named the patroness of the Americas. "There is the `subversive' view that emphasizes the image of Guadalupe as a symbol of God's option for the poor and oppressed," Ellsberg says. "In this view, Juan Diego, a humble Indian, is a prophetic agent for the evangelization of the colonial bishop. But at the same time there has been an impulse to harness the `energy' of Guadalupe to reinforce the authority of the establishment. This view essentially renders the bishop as the hero of the story. Which side will draw more inspiration from the canonization of Juan Diego? Probably both."

More than four centuries later, in 1968, the Italian Capuchin priest Blessed Padre Pio died after suffering the bleeding wounds of the stigmata for 50 years. An estimated 100,000 people attended the funeral of the priest who was said to have had the ability to read the hearts of penitents who flocked to him for Confession. "Padre Pio is an interesting case," Ellsberg says. "Only a very unhealthy person would aspire to be `like' Padre Pio. He is more of a prophetic sign than a model to be imitated.... a reminder that God's love remains mysterious and beyond our comprehension."

Blessed Josemaria Escriva, who died in 1975, founded the conservative and controversial Opus Dei, a 73-year-old worldwide movement that claims more than 80,000 adherents, overwhelmingly laity. "Among those who believe that Opus Dei is God's instrument for preserving orthodoxy and extending Christian civilization, the canonization of Escriva will be joyously celebrated," Ellsberg says. "For those who believe that Escriva reflects an outmoded style of evangelization--better suited to Franco's Spain than to the post-Vatican II world church--news of his canonization will spread dismay."