The Cause of Brother Francis
The beginning of the cause was delayed by the religious persecution of 1903 in France.
On April 25, 1909, in a circular, Brother Stratonique, the Superior General, publicly announced the decision to introduce the Cause of the Servant of God and officially invited the collection of testimony.
In late 1909, Brother Candidus was ratified as Postulator General by the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
Following the process in place before 1917, in January 1910, 180 articles on Brother Francis were written in Rome and printed in Lyon, France.
On February 24, 1910, Brother Marie-Junien was appointed as Vice-Postulator of the cause.
On June 20, 1910, the Ordinary Informative Process on the Fame of Sanctity, initiated by Cardinal Coullié in the Diocese of Lyon, began.
On May 22, 1912, the opening of this process took place in the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
On January 31, 1922, Brother Stratonique, the former Superior general, replaced the deceased Brother Marie-Junien as Vice-Postulator.
On August 4, 1922, Cardinal Maurin published the Ordinance on the investigation of the writings of the Servant of God. A new tribunal was appointed to examine about twenty notebooks or manuscripts, 2,000 letters, and circulars.
On July 27, 1923, the documents related to the ordinary process on the writings were taken to Rome by the Vice-Postulator.
On February 13, 1922, the ordinary informative process of absence of cult began. As part of this process, on March 20, 1924, the exhumation and deposit of the remains of the Servant of God took place in the Chapel of Our Lady of L’Hermitage.
On May 24, 1924, the Ordinary Informative Process on the Absence of Cult was deposited at the Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome.
On December 12, 1925, Br. Emery was appointed as Postulator General, replacing Br. Candidus, who had passed away.
On June 12, 1929, Pope Pius XI ratified the favorable judgment of the cardinals on the writings of the Servant of God.
At this time, the Summary and the Information were lost in Rome; a copy was found and immediately 100 copies were printed. In September of the same year, around 70 cardinals, archbishops, and bishops sent their postulatory letters, that is, an official request to proceed with the beatification of Br. François.
On March 13, 1931, the complete printed file was handed over to the Promoter General of the Faith.
On April 10, 1934, Br. Joseph-Philippe was appointed as Vice-Postulator.
On October 14, 1934, Pope Pius XI signed the Decree of Introduction of the Cause at the Apostolic See.
The process of no cult was approved by Pope Pius XI on July 31, 1935, and on August 9, 1935, he signed the Decree.
In Lyon, on October 17, 1935, the Apostolic Process on the heroic virtues began with the appointment of a new tribunal, the fourth.
On June 18, 1936, a second recognition of the remains of Br. Francisco was made and he was again buried in the Chapel of Our Lady of L’Hermitage.
On October 11, 1936, Cardinal Maurin brought the Apostolic Process on virtues to Rome. On the 18th of the same month, the process was opened in Rome.
The cause for beatification was interrupted during World War II. At this time, without an exact date, Br. Henri-Noël became Vice-Postulator.
On June 20, 1946, the apostolic process on heroic virtues resumed and the Summarium of 672 pages was printed.
On August 4, 1950, the Promoter of the Faith made his objections known, which were responded to on October 7, 1951.
On June 12, 1955, the Ante-Preparatory Congregation for the examination of virtues was held. Its decision was confirmed on October 8, 1955 by Pope Pius XII.
The Promoter of the Faith presented his objections, which were responded to on January 22, 1963.
On March 8, 1966, the Preparatory Congregation was held.
Finally, on May 22, 1967, in the presence of Pope Paul VI, the General Congregation was celebrated.
On July 4, 1968, the Decree on the heroism of virtues was issued and the title of Venerable was granted.