Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore, will preside over the closing session of the Cause for Sainthood of Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton during the 12:10 p.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore July 20.
Father Peyton is best known as the “Rosary Priest,” who encouraged families through his radio and television programs in the 1940s and 50s to pray together daily, especially the rosary.
The investigation into his sainthood cause opened in June 2001. It was moved by the Holy See from the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., to the archdiocese in 2008. The Archbishop will thank members of the ecclesiastical tribunal for their work in assisting with the investigation into the life and ministry of Father Peyton.
Copies of documents that will be presented during the Mass will then be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, where a determination will be made as to whether the Holy See will initiate its own investigation, the next step in Father Peyton’s path toward sainthood.
Father Peyton emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1928 when he was 19. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1941 and founded Family Rosary in Albany, N.Y., the following year. He conducted rosary crusades in 40 countries, drawing 28 million people. In 1947, he created Family Theater Productions, producing some 600 radio and television programs featuring hundreds of actors and celebrities, and more than 10,000 broadcasts.