THOUSANDS of advocates dedicated ninety-three years of work and prayers to the cause. Together they donated millions of dollars. Finally, the goal​—Pope Paul VI, during the 1975 Holy Year, canonized the first native-born American, Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. “Officially declared by the Church to have attained heaven,” she is viewed as another saint who can help church members to approach God.

In the opinion of The Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Seton’s zealous backers had shared in a process “more arduous than any political campaign and certainly just as expensive as most.” Scores of lawyers and doctors had to be paid to argue the merits of her case and verify “miracles”; multitudes of documents had to be translated into Italian for use by Vatican authorities.

The outlay of money so overtaxed even the Mother Seton Guild’s $32,000 annual budget that an emergency appeal for more money was necessary. Lavish pageantry at the canonization ceremony in Rome is said to have been more costly than even the $100,000 earmarked for the American celebration. A reported $10,000 rental fee for St. Peter’s Basilica alone during one recent beatification ceremony (the last step before canonization) gives some idea of the expenses.

Even the corpse is not left to rest. Wherever possible, Rome wants definite identification of the remains. Once exhumed, the bones of Elizabeth Seton became “first-class relics.” One bone went to Pope Paul; specially boxed fragments rewarded the principal workers for her cause.

Is the outcome worth all the effort? Church spokesmen assert that it is. The mere prospect of canonizing Elizabeth Seton and five others during the Holy Year moved Pope Paul to say that they would be “new stars . . . that shine in the firmament of the Church in order to show to the gaze of modern man . . . that life is worth living for God and the brethren.”