Lately, my Facebook feed has been filled with posts calling for the canonization of Pope Francis. Occasionally, I also see similar calls for Pope Benedict XVI or Pope Pius XII.
Please—before you jump to criticize me for saying this, just hear me out.
I’m not questioning the personal holiness of these men. I’m not denying the good they did for the Church or the world. But I am asking: Do we really need to canonize every recent pope?
The Church today doesn’t need more canonized popes—at least not primarily. Because the average person simply can’t relate to the life of a pope. These calls often sound less like a recognition of heroic virtue and more like the elevation of a folk hero: “Look how wonderful Pope So-and-So was!”
And while that might be true, most people—especially your average family, parish priest, or hospital chaplain—live a radically different kind of life.
What we need are saints we can see ourselves in.
We need the woman who remained faithful to her marriage vows despite a difficult, even unfaithful, husband. The mother who sacrificed everything to raise eight children, keeping house with joy and diligence out of love for God and her family.
We need the man who rose every morning at 4:00 a.m. to work a monotonous job, giving his best every day out of love for his wife and kids. Not for glory, but because he believed in virtue, loyalty, and providing for those entrusted to him.
We need the child who wasn’t the smartest or most popular in school, but who loved Jesus, said their prayers daily, and stood firm in virtue even when mocked by peers.
We need the grandmother who made Sunday dinners for the whole family to keep them united—who quietly prayed her Rosary, went to daily Mass, and whose novenas filled volumes greater than her husband’s toolbox.
These are the saints who walk among us—whose lives mirror our own. They show us that holiness is possible in kitchens, classrooms, gas stations, grocery stores, and parish rectories.
Of course, a canonized pope may inspire us as a powerful intercessor. But most of us will never live in the Apostolic Palace or face the burdens of the papacy.
We need saints who speak to the real, lived experience of today’s faithful: to overworked parish priests wearing more hats than an old-fashioned lady’s closet could hold. To married couples struggling to remain faithful. To ordinary people striving to live the Gospel in quiet, unseen ways.
We’re not meant to copy St. John Vianney or any other saint exactly—but to be inspired by those whose lives echo our own. Saints who say by their example: “If I did it, you can do it too. You’re not alone. Let’s keep running this race together.”
