by Stefani Manowski
September 17, 2014

A step in the right direction.

That is what the opening of an investigation to a possible miracle attributed to the intercession of Paulist founder Father Isaac Thomas Hecker is hailed to be.

Bishop Richard F. Stika of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tenn., officially launched the inquiry on Sept. 16, after meeting with Paulist president Father Eric Andrews; Father Paul Robichaud, postulator of Father Hecker’s cause for canonization; and vice-postulator Father Ronald Franco, CSP, who serves as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Knoxville. Bishop Stika has appointed four members and officers for the diocesan inquiry, including former archbishop of St. Louis and Philadelphia Justin Cardinal Rigali, who will serve as the episcopal delegate.

The Paulists have ministered in the State of Tennessee since 1900, Father Franco noted.

“The legacy of Isaac Hecker is strong in Tennessee, so it is fitting that an inquiry into a possible miracle should happen here,” he said. “It is a great thing, a wonderful thing.”

Father Hecker’s cause for canonization officially opened when he was declared a “servant of God” by Edward Cardinal Egan, then archbishop of New York, on Jan 25, 2008 at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, the Paulist mother church in New York City.

The authentication of a miracle is an important part in the canonization process. Since Hecker was born, lived and died in New York City, the investigation into his reputation for holiness and life of heroic virtue is being investigated by the Archdiocese of New York. The results, if positive, will be forwarded to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On a parallel path is the inquiry into the possible miracle begun in Knoxville. If positive, the inquiry will be forwarded to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who will make the official ruling on whether or not it is a miracle. If a miracle is declared, Father Hecker will be declared “blessed.”

“The authentication of a miracle would represent an authoritative judgment that invoking Hecker’s intercession appears to be pleasing to God,” said Father Andrews in a message to the community. “It thus adds further confirmation to the claim that he lived a life of heroic sanctity and ought to be beatified by the Church. … “I am grateful for the work of the Paulists in Knoxville for promoting the cause of Father Hecker, as well as the ongoing work of Paul Robichaud and Ron Franco to advance the life, ministry and spirituality of Servant of God Isaac Hecker.”

A second miracle is needed for canonization. (Read Father Hecker’s full biography here)

Father Isaac Thomas Hecker was born to German immigrants in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1819. After much searching for a church that would fulfill his spiritual needs, he converted to Catholicism and was ordained a priest for the Redemptorist order in 1849. Father Hecker and his companions formed the Paulist Fathers in 1858 to evangelize both believers and non-believers in order to convert North America to the Roman Catholic Church.

Father Hecker sought to evangelize Americans using the popular means of his day, primarily preaching, the public lecture circuit and the printing press. He founded the monthly publication, “The Catholic World,” in 1865.

Father Hecker’s spirituality centered on the action of the Holy Spirit upon the soul and the need to remain attentive to the prompting of the Spirit in the great and small moments of life. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Father Hecker labored to establish a dialogue between faith and culture, which he believed would lead to an American Catholicism whose vitality and optimism would transform the world.

In the latter years of his life, Father Hecker suffered with dark nights of the soul that varied in intensity; this was combined with the physical problems of a weak heart and leukemia. While emotionally and physically overcome at moments, Father Hecker remained faithful through his sure belief in the Holy Spirit. Father Hecker died in 1888, surrounded by the members of the community he founded.

“Isaac Hecker lived an extraordinary life,” said Father Robichaud. “His legacy continues in the thousands of people who continue to be touched by the ministry he began.