Saints Alive

When Pope John Paul II canonised José Maria Escriva de Balaguer, declaring him to be a saint, he became the most prolific pope in history with regard to canonisation.

Escriva, the controversial founder of the Opus Dei movement, was the 464th saint canonised by this Pope, more than all his predecessors put together.

So what is a saint? What characteristics does a person need to achieve this distinction? Is the idea of sainthood a good thing? Are there too many saints already?

These are just some of the questions tackled in Gerry McArdle's feature originally broadcast in Easter Week 2003, as he calls upon a wide variety of contributors to help him in his exploration of heroic sanctity.

There are contributions from Professor of Theology, well-known broadcaster and author, Fr. Richard P McBrien, and Irish theologian Gina Menzies providing the expert knowledge; with a larger cast which includes personalities such as Senator David Norris; Mine Bean Ui Chribin, ballad singer and author Liam Clancy; television presenter Geri Maye; and RTÉ's Head of Religious Programmes Fr. Dermot McCarthy

Musician and performer Tom Franzak hails from Pennsylvania. He has written and tours all over the US with his one-man show based on the lives of the saints, and he shares his insights with listeners, as does UK parliamentarian Martin Shaw, who, at the time, was in Ireland to promote the cause for canonisation of Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

First broadcast April 23rd 2003.

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.