Editing Philomena (section)

==Criticism==
Although correlation does not prove causation, the Holy See's instruction to remove the name of Philomena even from local calendars followed the raising of questions by certain scholars, whose interest had been drawn to the phenomenon more especially in connection with the revelations of Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù.<ref name=EncSanti/> The questions were raised in particular by [[Orazio Marucchi]], whose study in the late 19th Century won the support of [[Johann Peter Kirsch]], an archaeologist and ecclesiastical historian who is the author of the 1911 article on Philomena in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''.<ref name=CathEnc/> [[Orazio Marucchi]] had argued that the inscription on the three tiles that had provided the Latin name "Filumena" belonged to the middle or second half of the second century,<ref name=CathEnc/> while the body that had been found was of the fourth century, when the persecutions of Christians had ended.<ref name=EncSanti/> Thus, on his theory, not only the name but also the leaf, the two anchors and the palm that decorated the three tiles, and which had been believed to indicate that Filumena was a martyr, had no relation to the person whose remains were found.<ref name=CathEnc/> The alleged disarrangement of the tiles would be explained by a fourth-century practice of re-using materials already engraved, with the aim of indicating that it was not the same person who was now buried in the place.

More recently, [[Mark Miravalle]] has argued that Marucchi's conclusions should not be taken as the final word on the historicity of St. Philomena. His book, ''It Is Time to Meet St. Philomena'', cites several specialists who disagree with Marucchi's conclusions.<ref>(Mark Miravalle, ''It Is Time to Meet St. Philomena''. Queenship Publishing 2007, pp. 12–13).</ref> Historian Michael S. Carter (who supports Miravalle's position) has written about devotion to Saint Philomena within the broader context of veneration of "catacomb martyrs" and their relics in the history of the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal|url= https://muse.jhu.edu/article/685105/summary|title=Glowing With the Radiance of Heaven: Roman Martyrs, American Saints, and the Devotional World of Nineteenth-Century American Catholicism|year=2018|doi=10.1353/cht.2018.0001|last1=Carter|first1=Michael S.|journal=U.S. Catholic Historian|volume=36|pages=1–26|s2cid=166113874}}</ref> Moreover, In April 2005, at the ''Conference of Philomenian Studies – 1805-2005'', findings of a study carried out on the tiles by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro (Factory of Hard Stones and Restoration Laboratories) of Florence were made public. The analysis confirmed that only one type of mortal lime could be found on the tiles, thus giving strong support to the theory that the tiles had not been re-arranged.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://philomena.it/2015August13.html|title=The Miracles used for the canonization of Saint Philomena and supporting previous and recent studies|website=philomena.it|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

Others stress that the authenticity of her cult can be grounded on account of the miracles attributed to her, its long-standing papal approbation, and the saint's continued popularity. This has been the position of the rector of the shrine in Mugnano del Cardinale and the view presented in the Italian-language ''Enciclopedia Dei Santi''. Pilgrims from all over the world arrive continually at Philomena's shrine in the Diocese of Nola, Italy, displaying an intense degree of popular devotion.<ref name=EncSanti/>

The website of "The National Shrine of Saint Philomena, Miami, Florida" (associated with the [[Society of Saint Pius X|SSPX]]) sees "the action taken in 1960 as the work of the devil in order to deprive the people of God of a most powerful Intercessor, particularly in the areas of purity and faith at a time when these virtues were so much being challenged as they continue to be up until now!"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shrineofsaintphilomena.com/FAQ/FAQ.HTM |title=Did Saint Philomena Really Exist? |access-date=2012-06-21 |archive-date=2021-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926040651/http://www.shrineofsaintphilomena.com/FAQ/FAQ.HTM |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<!--==Status==
In his book ''It Is Time to Meet St Philomena'', Mark Miravalle says that [[Pope Gregory XVI]] "liturgically canonized St. Philomena, in an act of the ordinary Papal Magisterium".<ref>Mark Miravalle, ''It Is Time to Meet St Philomena'' (Queenship Publishing Company, P. O. Box 220, Goleta, California 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-57918-333-2}}), p. 41 (of 51)</ref> This contrasts with the usual view that canonization is an exercise of [[Papal infallibility|infallible]] magisterium declaring a truth that must be "definitively held".<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU.HTM Doctrinal Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the ''Professio Fidei''], by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.</ref><ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm "Beatification and Canonization"], ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907, p. 366</ref><ref>Encyclopedia Americana (International Edition) 2005, article "Canonization"</ref>

The ''[[Roman Martyrology]]'' contains the names of all the saints who have been formally canonized, since "with the canonization of a new saint, that person is officially listed in the catalog of saints, or Martyrology",<ref>[http://www.catholicculture.org/news/definition.cfm?glossID=16&CFID=7042024&CFTOKEN=42752938 Canonization]</ref> and "as soon as the beatification or canonization event takes place, the person's name is technically part of the Roman Martyrology".<ref>[http://www.ecatholichub.net/study/saints Catholic Saints Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224080055/http://www.ecatholichub.net/study/saints |date=2012-02-24 }}; cf. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/29/weekinreview/word-for-word-martyrology-brutalized-colonial-africa-1909-beatified-rome-1994.html New York Times. "Word for word: Martyrology"] [http://catholicbiblestudent.com/2008/08/roman-martyrology.html Catholic Bible Student, "The Roman Martyrology"]</ref> It does not now contain and in fact never included the name of this Philomena, which can be seen to be absent in the [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1856-1856__Absens__Vetus_Martyrologium_Romanum__LT.pdf.html 1856 edition] published some twenty years after the 1837 decree.

Canonization is a ceremony of the highest solemnity, in which the Pope himself, invoking his supreme authority in the Catholic Church, declares that someone is a saint and inserts that person's name in the catalog of saints.<ref>[https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/CANONIZE.HTM P.E. Hallett, "The Canonization of Saints"]</ref> This ceremony has never taken place with regard to Saint Philomena.<ref>''Commonweal'', vol 75, p. 431</ref>-->