Buh takes first step toward sainthood

REGIONAL- A Catholic priest whose ministry more than a century ago was closely tied to Tower and Ely has taken the first formal step on a path that could eventually lead to his canonization as a saint.
Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh is now officially a “Servant of God,” a title that marks the opening of the Catholic Church’s lengthy process of investigating whether someone qualifies for sainthood. The Diocese of Duluth formally opened Buh’s cause on Sept. 22 during a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in Duluth.
In the North Country, Buh is hardly a distant figure in the history of the Duluth Diocese.
In fact, the diocese says that of all the places where Buh ministered, the two most closely associated with him are St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Tower and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Ely. Buh was formally assigned as pastor at St. Martin’s on Sept. 29, 1888, with responsibility for the surrounding area.
From Tower, Buh extended his ministry to the growing settlement of Ely, initially visiting about once a month and celebrating Mass in a private home. He helped establish what became St. Anthony’s parish and later moved to Ely, where he served as resident priest beginning around 1900.
Buh also ministered to Ojibwe residents at the Vermilion Lake reservation, traveling there by boat during open water and by sled in winter, according to the Tower-Soudan Historical Society. Even after moving to Ely, he continued serving the reservation and the Tower area.
Those years were part of a ministry that stretched across much of northern Minnesota.
Born in present-day Slovenia in 1833, Buh was ordained a priest in 1858 and came to Minnesota as a missionary in 1864. He worked among Indigenous communities, European immigrants, and miners and is credited with helping establish more than 50 parishes and missions.
When the Diocese of Duluth was established in 1889, Buh became vicar general and chancellor under its first bishop, James McGolrick. The diocese today describes Buh as its “patriarch.” He died in Duluth on Feb. 2, 1922, at age 88.
A cause formally begins
Buh has long held a special place in the history of the Duluth Diocese. Advancing his cause for sainthood, however, will require considerably more.
Bishop Daniel Felton brought Buh’s case before other U.S. bishops during their spring meeting in June. The consultation is required under church law, and the bishops unanimously supported moving ahead. The Vatican subsequently cleared the way for the Duluth Diocese to begin its investigation.
Felton celebrated the Sept. 22 Mass that formally opened the cause.
“I can think of no better description of Joseph Buh than ‘servant of God,’” Felton said during his homily. “As we look at his life from the very beginning, that was his one desire, was to be a servant of God.”
After the Mass, members of a diocesan tribunal and historical commission took oaths to conduct the investigation according to church law.
They’ll have plenty to examine. The commission will gather historical records and study Buh’s ministry and writings, while looking for evidence that he lived what the church considers a life of “heroic virtue.” His non-English writings will have to be translated and reviewed to make sure they contain nothing contrary to Catholic teaching.
The road to sainthood
Servant of God is the first of several stages on the road to possible sainthood.
Once the Duluth investigation is finished, the evidence will go to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints for what is known as the Roman phase. If the cause continues to advance, the case can eventually go to the pope.
If the pope determines that Buh lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, Buh would receive another title, “Venerable.”
For the next step, beatification, the church generally requires a confirmed miracle attributed to Buh’s intercession after his death. Such cases often involve a medical recovery that has no natural explanation. A claimed miracle faces its own extensive investigation, including review by medical experts as well as church officials.
If such a miracle were accepted and his cause otherwise approved, Buh could be beatified and declared “Blessed.”
Canonization, the final step that would formally declare Buh a saint, ordinarily requires confirmation of a second miracle occurring after beatification.
And there’s no telling how long any of that might take.
“The whole process is kind of guided by God,” Felton told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “The timetable is not our timetable.”
Felton said Buh’s ministry offers a model that remains relevant more than a century later. Buh, he said, lived among the people he served, listened to them, and learned their language before speaking to them about his faith.
While Buh served northern Minnesota in another era, Felton told those gathered for the opening Mass that his example wasn’t confined to the past.
“He is also a servant of God in our own time,” Felton said. “He is calling you and me to be a servant of God as well.”