Abstract

Wolfgang Vogl:
100 Years of Canonisation Therese of Lisieux
1925–2025
(FKTh 2025-1, p. 1–10)

The canonisation of the Carmelite Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) on 17 May 1925 was one of the highlights of the pontificate of Pius XI, who was particularly open to the promotion of Christian spirituality, as shown by the elevation of St. John of the Cross to Doctor of the Church in 1926. Pius XI had already beatified Therese of Lisieux on 29 April 1923. In his own words, Therese was the ‘star’ of his pontificate. Pius X already considered Therese of Lisieux to be the greatest saint of modern times. When Benedict XV promulgated the decree on Therese’s heroic virtue on 14 August 1921, he emphasised that her life was ‘entirely characterised by the merit of spiritual childhood’. At her canonisation on 17 May 1925, Pius XI also focused on the spirituality of spiritual childhood. There is a valuable eyewitness account of Therese’s canonisation by Father Cassian Karg OFMCap.