De moderne heilige: sacrale interferenties. Een terreinverkenning

Abstract

This article presents a survey of the profile of the modern saint. Our quest is put against the background of a sounding of the modern sacral environment. We use ‘saint’ and ‘sainthood’ in an open way, not reserving the words for ecclesiastical strategies. A saint is the one who is recognized, named and propagated as such by a group. Our survey passes along a number of stations. First some relevant theoretical perspectives are reviewed briefly (especially the ritual/liturgical primacy and the concepts of appropriation, interference and sacralisation tendencies) and the rich spectrum of source material is discussed. Subsequently we present five exemplary profiles of modern saints: Padre Pio, Titus Brandsma, Mary Magdalen, James and angels.