Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien presided over the closing session of the diocesan inquiry into the cause for sainthood of the Rev. Patrick Peyton on Tuesday during Mass at the Baltimore Basilica. The Irish-born Holy Cross priest is credited with coining the phrase “the family that prays together, stays together.”
He was a fixture on American radio and television in the 1940s and ’50s, a platform from which he promoted the prayer movement called the Family Rosary Crusade.
The Vatican asked the Archdiocese of Baltimore to investigate the cause for sainthood in 2008.
Copies of the documents the archdiocese has generated are to be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, which will decide whether the matter merits further investigation.
The process of canonization in the Catholic Church involves three major steps: declaration of a candidate’s heroic virtues, beatification and canonization.
During the process, the church considers evidence of miracles attributable to the intercession of the candidate. In general, two miracles need to be accepted by the church for a sainthood cause to advance.
According to the archdiocese, Peyton arrived in the United States in 1928 when he was 19. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1941 and founded Family Rosary in Albany, N.Y., the following year.
He conducted rosary crusades in 40 countries, drawing 28 million people. In 1947, he created Family Theater Productions, producing some 600 radio and television programs featuring hundreds of actors and celebrities, and more than 10,000 broadcasts.
Family Rosary, Father Peyton Family Institute and Family Theater Productions carry on the work of Father Peyton in 17 countries.