Fr. Tolton's remains exhumed, verified; his cause takes step forward

[rug]

Medical examiner Nathaniel Patterson, forensic anthropologist Mark Johnsey and archaeologist Deacon David Keene remove soil from the grave of Fr. Augustus Tolton Dec. 10 as his remains are exhumed and verified at St. Peter Cemetery in Quincy, Ill. (CNS / Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

by Joyce Duriga Catholic News Service | Dec. 28, 2016

QUINCY, ILL. On the morning of Dec. 10 in a cemetery here, Fr. Augustus Tolton's cause for canonization took one step further as his remains were exhumed and verified.
Tolton, a former slave, is the first recognized American diocesan priest of African descent. In 2011, the Chicago archdiocese officially opened his cause for sainthood.

While digging up Tolton's grave may seem like a macabre undertaking and the antithesis of the prayer "may they rest in peace," it is actually a reverent and well thought out part of church law regarding the remains of holy people.

"This goes back to a very ancient tradition in the church for a number of reasons. One was to document that the person really existed and wasn't a figment of someone's imagination or some group's imagination. Finding their grave was the telltale sign that the person lived, breathed and walked this earth," said Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry, who is postulator of the priest's cause and one of the nation's African-American Catholic bishops.

"It's basically out of our theology, our tradition that our bodies are made holy in baptism and the reception of the Eucharist and eventually they rise to glory. So while we're treating everyone with dignity in life, even their remains are to be given a kind of a reverential handling," said Perry.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/fr-toltons-remains-exhumed-verified-his-cause-takes-step-forward



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Tolton