“Another important step, the exhumation and canonical examination of Father Solanus’ body took place on July 8, 1987. His body was clothed in a new habit, placed in a metal casket and reinterred in the north transept of St. Bonaventure’s Church.”
My mother mentioned something of Fr. Solanus. Having never heard of him, I found the above sentence on the website about him (folks are trying to get him listed as a Saint). What the heck is a canonical examination?
Without being a smartass, it’s an examination done by a canonical authority. It can be for just about any reason. They do it in the Catholic church for marriages, when people request annullments and for new priests.
I assume that for someone on the “sainthood track” that the Church was checking the corpse for miraculous symbols or stuff like that.
I assumed that they were checking to make sure they had the body (i.e., that he was dead), but I thought that perhaps this referred to something essential in the sainthoodedness process thingy.