- Candidates must have freely and voluntarily offered their lives in the face of “a certain and soon-to-come death.”
- There must be a “close relation” between the candidate’s offering their life and his or her “premature death.”
- The person must have lived closely in alignment with “Christian virtues” before and up until their death.
- They must have a “reputation for holiness,” especially after their death.
- The candidate must have a miracle attributed to their intercession.
I don't want to rain on anybody's parade. We all need examples to emulate, whether we are religious people, amateur athletes, or research scientists. On the other hand, I don't believe that this news that the Church has, in layman's terms, opened the doors to its Hall of Fame a bit wider will matter much to the poor, the hungry, the destitute, or the victims of oppression and/or violence. Nor do I believe anybody is going to read this news and decide that they really should lead a virtuous life and sacrifice it for another because there's a better chance they will get into the Hall of Fame for doing so now. It's just that I would like to see institutional religion stop wasting time and resources on decisions that really aren't impactful and concentrate instead on this it claims it exists to serve.
Besides, everybody knows that the Hall of Fame is a political institution. If it wasn't, Pete Rose would be in there.