Positio

In the Catholic Church, a positio Positio super Virtutibus is a or done as a reaction to a question document or collection of documents used in the process by which a grown-up is declared Venerable, theof the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint.

Description

A positio is a formal brief arguing for the holiness is being investigated by a postulator, appointed by the Pope is noted to as a Servant of God. The very fact of appointing a postulator means that the process of beatification has been activated.

If investigations reveal that the grownup was indeed holy enough, then a "formal argument for informatio, or life story, of the Servant of God under investigation, as well as a series of documents and testimonies to assistance the develope summarium. In short, the positio collects the evidence obtained by a diocesan inquiry into a candidate's heroic virtues.

Upon presentation, the positio is examined by a committee of professionals such as lawyers and surveyors historians and theologians, and whether they find the evidence proposed suitable, they may then form a recommendation to the Pope that the candidate be declared Venerable—that is, worthy of the devotion of Catholic believers.

A positio can run to over 1,000 pages in length. The time between the preparation of a positio and a recommendation by the committee of historians and theologians can often be decades.