The US Bishops voted to support the cause of beatification and canonization of Msgr. Joseph Buh, a missionary priest who worked in the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota.
One of the first steps in the cause of beatification and canonization of any individual is the consultation of the local group of bishops. In the case of Msgr. Joseph Buh, a priest who ministered in the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, that is the USCCB. The US Bishops were asked to review his life and confirm that his cause could move forward.
According to a June 10 USCCB press release, "By a voice vote, the bishops expressed their support for advancing the cause of beatification and canonization on the diocesan level."
This gives the local bishop the ability to initiate the cause and to further examine the life of Msgr. Joseph Buh, determining if he lived a life of "heroic virtue."
Once the cause is initiated, Msgr. Buh would be known as "Servant of God."
Who was Msgr. Joseph Buh?
Born in Slovenia, Msgr. Buh came to the United States 1864 as a missionary priest. Initially he served both Native Americans and Slovenian immigrants.
He also served the Diocese of Duluth as vicar general and helped organize its parishes as the diocese was formed.
Buh was highly regarded for his holiness, and the website for his cause relates what his bishop thought of him when he died.
When Msgr. Buh died on February 1, 1922, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Bishop McNicholas instructed the funeral director to make the casket metal-lined. “His reason: he considered his vicar general ‘a saint,’ and he set the stage, therefore, for an exhumation at some later date,” the biography, published in 1972, states.
Fr. Richard Kunst of the Diocese of Duluth provides a summary of Buh's personal holiness:
It is only when one realizes the great harvest that he has reaped that one is forced to take into account the many and deep furrows that he plowed in the harvest fields of Christ. His zeal for souls was ever a burning fire. No journey on foot, no distance by horseback was too long or too trying provided a soul was to be helped at the journey’s end. He would set out with a trust in God realizing that God’s love of souls was infinite and that he was but the dispenser of the riches of God’s sacramental graces. He was ever willing to make every sacrifice in the performance of duty for the salvation of souls.
At this stage the Diocese of Duluth needs to officially initiate his cause at the local level, as well as to get an OK from the Vatican, which essentially notes that there is nothing that would hinder the process at this point.
If canonized, Msgr. Buh would be the first priest who ministered in Minnesota to be recognized a saint.
