The cause for the canonization of Adele Brice, the visionary of Our Lady of Champion, will officially open on January 30th. Bishop David Ricken will declare Brice a Servant of God, marking the first official step toward sainthood. The promulgation ceremony will take place during Solemn Vespers at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay and is open to the public. Adele Brice, an immigrant from Belgium, reported seeing an apparition of a woman in white in the woods near Champion, Wisconsin, in 1859. This process is described as a long and prayerful journey toward sainthood, rarely undertaken in the United States and unprecedented for the Diocese of Green Bay.
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Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay will formally open the cause for canonization of Adele Brice on January 30, 2026, declaring her a "Servant of God" during Solemn Vespers at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral.1
This event coincides with what would have been Brice's 195th birthday and is open to the public.1
Adele Brice was a Belgian immigrant born on January 30, 1831, who arrived in Wisconsin in 1855 at age 24.1
She died on July 5, 1896, and is buried near the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.1
On October 2, 1859, 28-year-old Brice saw a woman clothed in white while walking through woods near Champion.1
She experienced two more apparitions the following Sunday, once en route to Mass and again returning, though her companions saw nothing.1
In May 2024, Postulator Dr. Valentina Culurgioni petitioned Bishop Ricken to open the cause.1
The U.S. bishops unanimously approved in June 2024; the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints issued a Nil Obstat in October 2025.1
Bishop Ricken requested reports of favors or miracles from the faithful in late December 2025, fulfilling a key Church requirement.1
Fr. Anthony Stephens, rector of the shrine, described the event as a historic step, unprecedented in the Diocese of Green Bay.1
He invited the public to pray and witness as the cause begins its "long and prayerful journey toward sainthood."1
A diocesan investigation will examine Brice's life, virtues, and testimonies from the faithful.1
If heroic virtue is affirmed, findings go to the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for review by the Holy Father.1
Examine criteria for canonization of American visionaries
The Catholic Church's process for canonization is governed by special pontifical law, ensuring a rigorous examination applicable to all candidates worldwide, including American visionaries such as those claiming private revelations or mystical experiences. Key requirements include a reputation of holiness or martyrdom, the practice of Christian virtues to a heroic degree, verified miracles attributed to the candidate's intercession, and, in some cases, an ancient or widespread cultus. These criteria stem from the Church's desire to propose models of sanctity, confirming that the Servant of God is in heaven and worthy of public veneration. For visionaries, whose causes often involve alleged supernatural phenomena like locutions or visions, the focus remains on their overall life of virtue rather than the revelations alone, which must be discerned carefully to exclude deception or psychological factors.
Canonization causes begin locally when the diocesan bishop, ex officio or upon petition from the faithful, initiates an inquiry into the Servant of God's life, virtues (or martyrdom), reputation of holiness or martyrdom, alleged miracles, and any ancient cult. This diocesan or eparchial process, outlined in Sanctorum Mater, requires the candidate to be a Catholic who lived, died, and continues to enjoy a reputation of holiness through heroic exercise of virtues or martyrdom in odium fidei. Petitions from groups of the faithful emphasize the persistence of this fame and popular devotion, underscoring that the process originates from the vox populi—the voice of the people—rather than top-down initiative.
For American visionaries, such as potential candidates from U.S. dioceses, the local ordinary (e.g., a bishop in places like Boston or Fatima-inspired seers in the Midwest) holds competence within jurisdictional limits. No nationality-based exceptions exist; the 1983 norms of Divinus Perfectionis Magister standardized this phase post-1917 Code, abrogating prior rules to promote collaboration between bishops and the Holy See. The bishop gathers evidence via witnesses, documents, and theology experts, ensuring the inquiry proves not just visions but a life imitating Christ heroically.
Once the diocesan acts are validated in Rome by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (formerly Congregation), an apostolic process examines virtues and miracles in detail. The candidate earns the title "Venerable" upon proof of heroic virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance—practiced to a degree beyond ordinary Christians, often through theological, cardinal, and related virtues. A Promoter of the Faith (Devil's Advocate) raises objections at every stage, including printed critiques.
Miracles, typically two post-beatification for non-martyrs, must be scientifically inexplicable healings or events through the candidate's intercession, verified by medical experts (one chosen by the postulator, one by the Dicastery). For visionaries, revelations are scrutinized here: while supportive if aligned with doctrine, they do not substitute for virtues or miracles. Beatification follows a de tuto decree (safe to proceed), allowing limited cultus as "Blessed"; canonization demands further miracles and a papal bull commanding universal veneration.
Recent updates, like Pope Francis's Maiorem hac dilectionem (2017), introduced an "offer of life" path for those who freely sacrificed life for others, akin to martyrdom, modifiable for virtues inquiries. This could apply to visionaries who died heroically, but standard paths predominate.
For ancient figures, equipollent (equivalent) canonization bypasses full process if continuous cultus, reliable histories of virtues/miracles, and heroic reputation exist—e.g., St. Romuald after 439 years. Modern American visionaries, however, require the ordinary process due to recency and need for fresh evidence. Papal infallibility attaches to definitive canonization decrees, protecting the Church from error in declaring heavenly intercessors.
Visionaries face heightened scrutiny: private revelations, even approved (e.g., Lourdes), do not guarantee sanctity. The Church demands proof against fraud, mental illness, or demonic influence, prioritizing lived holiness. No sources indicate relaxed criteria for Americans; universality prevails per Codex Juris Canonici (c. 1403).
The process, often spanning decades due to thoroughness (limited meetings, sequential debates), incurs expenses but prioritizes truth over speed. Bishops receive Dicastery guidelines; postulator advocates compile positiones (summaries of virtues/miracles). For U.S. visionaries, successful causes (e.g., like Venerable Fulton Sheen, whose virtues were decreed) exemplify fidelity to these norms.
In summary, canonization criteria for American visionaries mirror the universal standard: diocesan initiation proving reputation of holiness, apostolic verification of heroic virtues and miracles, culminating in papal decree. This safeguards the faithful, proposing only proven saints for imitation and invocation, ever faithful to Christ's call to holiness.