Duluth Diocese officially begins canonization cause for Minnesota priest Joseph Buh

The Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota officially launched a formal canonization cause for the 19th century Slovenian-born missionary priest, Monsignor Joseph Buh, who now holds the title of “servant of God” in the Catholic Church.

“It is humbling to know that we stand in a moment of history that the Holy Spirit has chosen to be able to bring forth Monsignor Joseph Buh, not only for days past, but for the present moment, as we are experiencing once again a Catholic revival in the Diocese of Duluth,” Bishop Daniel Felton said at the opening of the Sept. 22 Mass for Buh’s cause for canonization.

Felton celebrated the Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth. He was joined by a representative of the Slovenian government, a representative of the Catholic Church in Slovenia, representatives for local indigenous communities, and representatives of the Slovenian American community.

A person’s official cause for canonization typically begins at the local level, with the diocesan bishop launching the investigation. In June, Felton consulted with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which voted to support Felton’s inquiry into Buh’s cause.

Buh, who was born in 1833 and died in 1922, ministered to poor immigrants and indigenous people, including the Ojibwe, and helped establish more than 50 parishes in the area. If Buh were canonized, he would be the first saint from Minnesota.

“As Monsignor Buh is with us, he would be the first one to say, ‘this isn’t about me — it’s about the way that God chose me to bring the healing, to bring the hope, to bring the joy of Jesus to others,’” Felton said. “And so we too acknowledge tonight, it’s not about us. It’s all about Jesus.”

In his homily, Felton said there is no better description of Buh than “servant of God,” which now is his official title. He said, “that was his one desire, [it] was to be a servant of God.” He said Buh “wanted to be a disciple of Christ, just growing closer to Jesus in all ways.”

Felton referenced the Gospel reading of the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and “would carry them to the place that the Holy Spirit desired for them.” He said in the early 1900s, “that same Spirit was hovering over the Diocese of Duluth in a great moment of revival.”

The bishop noted that Buh, when ministering to the indigenous communities and others, would always live with that community and learn the language, “and it was only when he knew that language, the language of the people, that ultimately he would know their hurts and their pains, he would know how they were filled with despair, he would know their tribulations in life.”

“And only when he actually knew that in his heart and he could speak that language of the people, only then secondly, did he always begin to talk about Jesus, to put Jesus on center stage, to say Jesus is healing to your hurts, Jesus is hope to your despair, Jesus is joy to your tribulations,” Felton said.

Now that Buh is a servant of God, the diocese will perform an inquiry into his life and submit its findings to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which will determine whether to move forward with his cause.