How do we recognize icons of sanctity in our midst and in our history? Why do we choose the ones we do? What is the politics of saint-making about? Michael Higgins argues that the radical summons to sainthood plays itself out in the drama of history in widely different ways. Saints, in a way, are us. His new book, Stalking the Holy: In Pursuit of Saint-Making is both a personal quest as well as a serious study of our complex, quirky, and endlessly-shifting paradigms of holiness. Saints, Higgins argues, subvert our complacency. And official sainting can be controversial, as we will discover when we explore the cases of Pius XII, Teresa of Calcutta and Padre Pio.
Michael W. Higgins, PhD
Michael W. Higgins is President of St. Jerome's University, a Professor of English and Religious Studies, and the author and co-author of numerous books and articles, including the award-winning Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton, The Jesuit Mystique, The Muted Voice: Religion and the Media, My Father's Business: A Biography of His Eminence G Emmett Cardinal Carter, and the national bestseller, Power And Peril; The Catholic Church at the Crossroads. His most recent work is Stalking the Holy: In Pursuit of Saint-Making, published by Anansi and aired on the CBC Radio One IDEAS programme.