Why Was Julian of Norwich Never Canonized?

[Hannelore]

  This has always puzzled me. Was there ever a process started? I mean, at least with Thomas a Kempis there was an attempt... Is there anything that would absolutely bar her?

[The Harlequin King]

She wasn't a pope.

[drummerboy]

Lack of a big enough cult to justify it perhaps

[BigMelvin]

I was sat with a Priest from one of the Pontifical Universities at dinner once, and he was waxing about her universalism.

[Maximilian]

I have just finished reading "The Revelations of Julian of Norwich." It is impossible to canonize her. There is no way to confirm the validity of her revelations. Some of the things she says sound a little off.

Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it quite edifying and stimulating. But not in quite the same way as a canonized saint. She is too eccentric and individualistic. Still, "The Revelations" provided material for a lot of fruitful meditations.

I compare her to Anne Catherine Emmerich. She could never be canonized because there is simply no way for the Church ever to determine one way or the other the validity of her revelations. But reading her works surely stimulates a lot of reflection on the spiritual world.

[Maximilian]

I was sat with a Priest from one of the Pontifical Universities at dinner once, and he was waxing about her universalism.

Yes, I think it was the few sections that use language that is not quite consonant with Catholic theology that prompted Penguin books to publish her. I believe, however, that is only a problem of her being uneducated, and so she didn't express everything in an orthodox manner, but in her heart she was a totally faithful and devout Catholic.

[Hannelore]

I was sat with a Priest from one of the Pontifical Universities at dinner once, and he was waxing about her universalism.

Yes, I think it was the few sections that use language that is not quite consonant with Catholic theology that prompted Penguin books to publish her. I believe, however, that is only a problem of her being uneducated, and so she didn't express everything in an orthodox manner, but in her heart she was a totally faithful and devout Catholic.

I came to the same conclusion after reading the Revelations. The whole "Great Deed" thing did sound sort of wonky, but I figured that somehow she couldn't actually mean what she seemed to be saying. And she did say at the end of the passage that she would continue to believe what the Church taught. As for somehow using this excerpt to further some sort of universal salvation theory, that just doesn't seem logical to me. I loved the book, overall, though.

[Gardener]

http://rccommentary2.blogspot.com/2011/08/julian-of-norwich-part-2.html

[Maximilian]

http://rccommentary2.blogspot.com/2011/08/julian-of-norwich-part-2.html

Yes, that's a very nice discussion of the way in which it is easy to take out of context things that Julian of Norwich says and make them sound heretical, even though her intention when you read it properly in context was clearly orthodox. Which confirms on the one hand that she can never be canonized, or else her writings could be used to support all sorts of heretical propositions, but if read correctly they can still be inspiring for devout souls who are looking to profit from her revelations.