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Q:Is it true that St. Christopher is no longer a saint, and if so, why?
(Paul)
Dear Paul:
There has been a great deal of misunderstanding about the status of St. Christopher as a result of changes to the General Roman Calendar for the Universal Church in 1969. The Church calendar divides the year into different seasons, such as Advent, Christmas, Easter and so on, and each season has its own special character with particular scriptural readings, Mass prayers and observances. The calendar also includes special days devoted to the memory of the martyrs and saints, people who have served the Church as models of the Christian life.
Certain of these special feast days, or memorials to the saints, are obligatory observances for the entire Catholic world; that is, the Church considers certain saints to be such exemplary models of God's grace that the celebration of their lives is to be observed by the entire Church. Some of the better known saints whose feast days fall into this category are for example St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom or St. Gregory the Great, St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena or St. Theresa of Avila as well as the more recent ones such as St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Pio da Pietrelcina and others. The Church's universal calendar also includes what are known as 'optional memorials'; that is, recommended saints' feast days, but ones which the Church does not wish to impose as an obligation on the worldwide Catholic community.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) specifically directed that those feast days which commemorate the mysteries of salvation --the life, death and resurrection of Our Blessed Lord--should take precedence over those of the saints. When Church authorities came to revise the calendar in 1969, with the Council's directives in mind, they were confronted with over 300 saints' feast days on the calendar, and requests from all over the world to add even more. A certain pruning was inevitable, and a number of saints' feast days, including that of St. Christopher, were removed from the universal calendar.
The actual words used in removing St Christopher's feast day were that his feast was "not part of the ancient Roman tradition." There is no elaboration on this point, but the words have been taken to mean that although St.Christopher is generally regarded as having been martyred for the faith in Syria in the year 308, the evidence comes more from popular tradition than from the writings of early Church historians. The remaining commentary on St.Christopher in the 1969 revision, however, makes it quite clear that, contrary to some widespread misconception, St. Christopher's sainthood status has not been altered. The words in the Vatican document are that his feast day " is now left to particular calendars." In other words, St. Christopher can still be venerated through inclusion in local calendars, such as those used in a particular diocese or country, or by a group of Religious.
Most Catholic almanacs still include him as the patron saint of travellers, and Christopher, with its beautiful connotation of 'Christ-bearer', continues to be a worthy choice as a baptismal name.
God bless,
Father Norbert