The “father” of the canonization process of Isabel la Católica, Luis Suarez, dies

On December 15, the Spanish historian Luis Suárez Fernández died at the age of 100, considered the “father” of the canonization process of the servant of God Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Castile, initiated in the Archdiocese of Valladolid in 1958.

Born in Gijón (Spain) in 1924, he was part of the Historical Commission in charge of studying the life and work of the Spanish monarch, which, after 12 years of detailed investigations, concluded that “not a single act, public or private, has been found Queen Elizabeth that is not inspired by Christian and evangelical criteria.”

Mons. Santiago Calvo, former Honorary Prelate of His Holiness and nephew of Father Vicente Rodríguez Valencia, Archivist of the Cathedral of Valladolid who was also part of the Historical Commission, confirms to ACI Prensa the “paternity” shared by his uncle and Suárez of the process on the Catholic Queen:

“They were the ones who discussed the matter with the Archbishop of Valladolid, José García Goldáraz, who welcomed the idea with great enthusiasm and was supporting them,” he explains.

“He discharged my uncle, who was a canon, from the choir and gave him an office in the archbishopric so that there he could have all of Isabella the Catholic’s things and from there he could promote the process. And, in all of this, Don Luis worked in a tenacious and insurmountable way,” he details.

Thanks to that relationship with his uncle, Mons. Calvo met Suárez on some occasions, whom he defines as “an extraordinarily valuable man as a human person, a very good Catholic.” Not in vain, he was president of the young people of Catholic Action in Valladolid and his membership in the Prelature of Opus Dei is known.

Regarding his knowledge of the Middle Ages, he emphasizes that “it was a pleasure to hear him speak with authority, but at the same time with simplicity. “He did not presume to know, but spoke naturally, specifically about Isabella the Catholic, and it was clear that he dominated that environment as if he had lived with her and Enrique IV.”

“Your job for the process is to discover yourself”

For his part, Father José Luis Rubio Willem, director of the Isabel la Católica Commission for the Cause of Beatification of the Queen of the Archbishopric of Valladolid, highlights that “he was a great historian, a great scholar, with a very Catholic spirit.” whose work for the process “is to be discovered.”

To understand this contribution well, Fr. Rubio highlights that in any canonization process an in-depth historical investigation must be carried out, which in the case of the Catholic Queen was very far away.

However, “thank God, at that time everything was documented very well,” despite which “people with a lot of intellectual depth and a lot of wisdom were needed,” like Luis Suárez.

Father Rubio also considers him as “father of the process of canonization of Isabella the Catholic” and highlights of his work that the entire investigation “was carried out with such meticulousness that Rome did not put any buts, no comma to anything that was sent.” ”.

The historical research, presented in 1972 in Valladolid, was approved in 1990 by the Historical Section of the Congregation (today the Dicastery) for the Causes of Saints as “authentic, complete and suitable to judge the virtues and reputation of holiness” of the queen of Castile.