An overwhelming number of sainthood Causes in the past decade have originated in Italy, according to the head of the Vatican office responsible for investigating them.
Of the 351 dossiers documenting the holiness of candidates for sainthood received by the Congregation for Saints' Causes between 2006-2016, nearly 40 per cent of them – 139 causes – were from Italy, said Cardinal Angelo Amato, the congregation's prefect.
The cardinal spoke at the start of a two-month course offered each year by the congregation to teach future postulators to navigate the "laborious Church process" of promoting a Cause.
