John Sullivan

The Vatican record

• 7 November 2014 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2014)
• 26 April 2016 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2016)

Who they were

John Sullivan was born on Eccles Street in Dublin on 8 May 1861, the son of a Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was raised in the Church of Ireland and educated at Portora Royal School and Trinity College Dublin.

He became a Catholic in 1896, at 35, joined the Jesuits four years later and was ordained a priest in 1907. From then until his death he taught at Clongowes Wood College in Co. Kildare, and became known for cycling out to visit the sick and the poor in the surrounding villages. He died at St Vincent's Nursing Home in Dublin on 19 February 1933 and is entombed in St Francis Xavier's Church, Gardiner Street.

The miracles

His beatification on 13 May 2017 at Gardiner Street was the first ever held in Ireland. The request for it was made jointly by the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, and the Catholic Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin. One more approved miracle is needed for canonisation.

Why that counted as sanctity

On 7 November 2014 the Church declared that this life showed the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and gave the title Venerable. The case of Delia Farnham was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 26 April 2016, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 13 May 2017 by Cardinal Angelo Amato, for Pope Francis.

Connected on this site

• Francis Xavier Saint
  “He died at St Vincent's Nursing Home in Dublin on 19 February 1933 and is entombed in St Francis Xavier's Church, Gardiner Street.” — this site's research