U.S. Bishops Affirm Advancement of a Cause of Beatification and Canonization for the Servant of God John Rick Miller, Lay Person
ORLANDO, Fla. – During their June Plenary Assembly, the bishops of the United States held a canonical consultation on a cause of beatification and canonization for the Servant of God John Rick Miller, a family man, businessman, and international missionary. He dedicated his missionary efforts to promoting the consecration and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as well as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami facilitated the bishops’ discussion. By a voice vote, the bishops expressed their support for advancing the cause of beatification and canonization on the diocesan level. The following biography of Mr. Miller was drawn from information provided by the Archdiocese of Miami: John Rick Miller was born on July 10, 1948, in New York. His family was of French-Canadian descent, and among his ancestors were St. Margaret D'Youville and St. André Bessette. It is said that he developed a deep sense of God and the Catholic faith at an early age, largely due to the influence of his paternal grandparents. Mr. Miller studied at the Catholic Institute of Mount of the Assumption and graduated from Peru Senior High School in Peru, New York. He entered Paul Smith College in Hudson Falls, New York, to study restaurant and hotel management, and worked in business and quickly rose through the ranks at several prominent corporations. In 1984, he married Noella Bidoor Samson in Bahrain, and on July 2, 1986, they welcomed their twin children, Alexandra and Jonathan. Although he had drifted away from the Catholic faith since his college years, in 1988, he experienced a personal encounter with God after a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine, which led him back to the faith and sparked his passion for bringing God’s love to the world. In 1989, Mr. Miller established numerous prayer cenacles across different countries. He served as a catechist in Cairo, Egypt, from 1993 to 1997. In 1998, while in London, he co-founded the “Apostolate of St. Joseph,” an international Catholic organization dedicated to strengthening the family under the patronage of St. Joseph and St. Monica. In 2001, he established the “Confraternity of Our Lady” at the historic Willesden National Marian Shrine, with members praying for the protection and conversion of London. In 2007, Mr. Miller broadened his evangelization efforts to India, where he, in collaboration with the Pallottine Order, developed plans to build Catholic shrines honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. He also traveled to Colombia, where, after prayerful reflection, he felt moved to lead efforts to consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On October 12, 2008, the country renewed its consecration to the Sacred Heart, and for the first time, the Church consecrated the country to Mary. This revival of faith inspired many of his followers to establish prayer cenacles and promote perpetual adoration. Word spread quickly, and in the months and years that followed, he was invited to Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama. In 2009, he established the “Mission for the Love of God Worldwide,” a lay Catholic group dedicated to rekindling awareness of God’s presence through consecration, personal conversion, and prayer. Over time, the ministry expanded to 21 locations globally, with a strong presence in Central and South America. Inspired by his invitation, multiple countries also conducted consecrations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In 2011, the Catholic Conference of Bishops of Ecuador officially recognized the mission as a private association of the faithful. Mr. Miller received many honors from leaders of the Church in Colombia and Mexico for his work and dedication to the conversion of souls. He died on May 30, 2015, from esophageal cancer. His remains rest beneath the esplanade outside the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, Florida, which has become a pilgrimage destination for the faithful. More biographical information can be found at: www.porelamordediosentodoelmundo.org/en ###
3 months ago
John Rick Miller, a 20th‑century American businessman‑turned‑missionary, received unanimous approval from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to advance his cause for beatification and canonization at the spring plenary meeting in Orlando on June 10, 2026. The bishops also endorsed the cause of Minnesota missionary priest Msgr. Joseph Buh, but Miller’s cause was highlighted as a model of lay holiness 2 3 4.
The USCCB voted overwhelmingly to move Miller’s cause forward at the local level. Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami presented the cause and noted that the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints had granted “the confidence of the forum” to the Archdiocese of Miami 2 3 4.
The vote was part of a broader unanimous endorsement of two American canonization causes, including Msgr. Joseph Buh, whose cause was opened in his diocese 2.
Miller was born in New York City in July 1948 into a Catholic family. After a successful corporate career with firms such as Astra Zeneca, Cargill McMillan and the IMF, he experienced a deep conversion in 1988 through the intercession of the Blessed Mother 2 3 4.
Following his conversion, he left the business world at age 50, devoted himself to prayer, daily Eucharist, and Marian devotion, and founded several apostolates 2 3 4.
He died of esophageal cancer on May 30, 2015, at age 66, and was buried at the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, Florida, with Archbishop Wenski’s approval 2 3 4.
His missionary outreach extended to Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and other nations, where he helped consecrate Colombia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 2008 2 3 4.
Archbishop Wenski emphasized that Miller’s life exemplifies the lay vocation to holiness articulated in Lumen Gentium: laypeople are called to seek the Kingdom of God through their temporal affairs, guided by the “three hearts” of Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph 2 3 4.
The bishops highlighted the pastoral need for lay models of sanctity, noting that Miller joins 87 U.S. Catholics on the official path to sainthood, alongside 11 canonized American saints 3 4.
The same USCCB meeting also advanced the cause of Msgr. Joseph Buh, a Slovenian‑born missionary priest who served Minnesota’s frontier and immigrant communities from 1864‑1922. Bishop Daniel J. Felton praised Buh as a model of missionary discipleship 2.
Together, these causes reflect a renewed emphasis on missionary zeal and lay holiness within the American Church under Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate 2.
Investigate the role of laypersons in contemporary canonization processes
In contemporary canonization processes, laypersons have a twofold role: they can be the very subjects of sainthood (lay men and women canonized or beatified), and they can also contribute indirectly and directly to the Church’s discernment through witness, intercession, expertise, and shared ecclesial responsibility. The Church’s understanding of lay identity—grounded in baptism and ordered to mission—helps explain why modern causes increasingly reflect sanctity lived in ordinary states of life.
Pope Francis explicitly frames the Church’s life as a shared vocation of the baptized: “Because none of us was baptized neither priest nor bishop: we were all baptized as lay persons, male and female. Lay people are the protagonists of the Church.”
This matters for canonization because canonization is not merely a legal act; it is ecclesial recognition of holiness lived for the good of all, carried by the People of God.
In a conference connected to the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis teaches that holiness “is fulfilled first of all in charity … therefore, it is not merely a personal event, but also a communitarian one.”
He further notes that recent years show an increase in beatifications and canonizations of people from “different states of life,” explicitly naming “laypeople” among those whose holiness has been recognized.
Pope Francis also emphasizes that laypeople are not “outsiders” to church life. He calls for “shared responsibility between laypersons and pastors” and insists that “The lay faithful are not ‘guests’ in the Church; it is their home.”
This supports the idea that causes of saints—rooted in local dioceses and sustained by the devotion of communities—are naturally surrounded by lay cooperation, formation, and witness.
Pope Francis remarks that it is “not a coincidence” that there has been an increase in canonizations and beatifications of men and women from multiple states of life, including “**married men and women … and laypeople” and even families.
So, when discussing the “role” of laypersons in canonization, one must begin by stating clearly: lay holiness is not peripheral to modern canonization outcomes; it is visibly central.
A 2024 promulgation from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints includes, among authorized items, “the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, lay faithful.”
The same promulgation also lists approvals concerning “lay faithful killed in hatred of the faith” and mentions the convening of a consistory involving canonizations including “lay faithful” cases.
These examples show that in contemporary practice, lay status is not an obstacle to official recognition; it is often part of what highlights the sanctity of ordinary life.
Canonization processes have a defined structure: local diocesan inquiry gathers testimony and documentation, then the case is examined further by competent bodies in Rome. While the procedural texts provided here focus on specific offices and safeguards, the broader Church teaching about lay responsibility helps clarify where laypersons fit.
Since holiness is “communitarian,” laypeople contribute by living and spreading charity in ordinary circumstances, and communities become the concrete “setting” in which saints are recognized as “saints ‘next door.’”
That communitarian dimension supports why diocesan causes involve local Catholics whose testimony about reputation, life, and intercession is part of the Church’s discernment (even though the specific “who may testify” rules are not quoted in the provided excerpt).
The Eastern Code of Canon Law states a principle especially relevant to investigative processes: “Lay persons who excel in the necessary knowledge, experience and integrity, should be heard as experts or consultors by ecclesiastical authorities.”
It further clarifies that besides functions admitted “by common law,” competent authority may admit lay persons to other functions, except those requiring “holy orders” or those forbidden by proper law.
Even though this excerpt is from the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, it articulates a Church-wide logic: where specialized knowledge is required (historical, medical, archival, linguistic, etc.), competent lay expertise may be consulted rather than excluded.
Pope Francis insists that training for lay shared responsibility must be “directed towards mission,” and warns against “ideology” in the Church.
He specifies that formation should be nourished by “hearing the kerygma,” “the word of God and the sacraments,” leading to discernment and engagement in apostolate and testimony.
In the canonization context, this mission-oriented formation supports how lay collaborators approach sensitive investigative tasks: with spiritual maturity, fidelity, and a servant attitude oriented to truth-seeking and ecclesial good.
The instruction Sanctorum Mater provides explicit procedural safeguards about one key office in a cause. It states:
These rules aim at integrity and objectivity in the testimonial phase, and they show that not every involvement is the same in the process: some roles are restricted for the sake of proper procedure.
Pope Francis warns against a certain “clericalism” that can suppress lay charisms: lay persons should participate “without falling into the clericalisms that nullify the lay charism.”
At the same time, the disciplinary structure of the Church (including the regulated testimony process above) demonstrates that the Church’s discernment is not democratized into mere sentiment; it is carried out through offices and safeguards under ecclesiastical authority.
So the “limit” is not that laypersons must be absent, but that their participation is properly ordered—they assist in mission and expertise, while the process maintains the integrity of roles and procedures.
Contemporary canonization processes show a clear and growing visible inclusion of lay holiness—with Pope Francis noting increased recognition of laypeople among beatifications and canonizations and Dicastery promulgations explicitly involving “lay faithful” causes and miracles.
At the same time, the Church’s theology of the laity (baptismal protagonism and shared responsibility) supports their cooperation in the life of the Church and in the work surrounding causes.
Finally, procedural rules (like the limits placed on the postulator/vice-postulator during witness sessions) show that lay participation is integrated within safeguards meant to protect truth, objectivity, and ecclesial order. **