Sainthood

Time, that big brass buckle on the belt of history, loosens up a notch or two as the weight of history itself shifts, settles and gets comfortable enough to give breathing room to complexity and paradox. Take Los Angeles. If anything has been made obvious in its 200-odd years, it is that the "City of Angels" simply isn't--a contradiction belabored by the clumsier fiction writers and of virtually no concern to the rest of its residents.

Pope John Paul II on Thursday ruled out intervention to speed up possible sainthood for Mother Teresa. Aboard the papal plane en route to Brazil, John Paul was asked whether he planned to change the Roman Catholic Church's rules for canonization. Five years must pass after a person's death before the process can begin. "I think it is necessary to follow the normal way," John Paul said.

Excerpts from a conversation at TalkCity.com about two recent deaths: Retch1: farewell to two great women dlisa: it's a shame that the media didn't give as much coverage to Mother Teresa's funeral as they did Diana's sudden death. SFDELI1: i agree MgBlssm: but Princess Diana was the paparazzi. she was media frenzy in itself. Mother Teresa was more for the people. dlisa: doesn't make it right. Dionica: anyone sign any condolence books? Innsys: i did Edl8840: same here.

sk anyone who knew Mother Teresa, and you'll hear that the nun from Calcutta was the closest thing imaginable to a living saint. In death, however, Mother Teresa must convince a much tougher audience--the Vatican--to earn sainthood. To be called a saint is one thing; to be canonized is quite another. Ranking among the names in the Roman Catholic "canon" of holy men and women involves a complex process that takes time, money, testimonies, miracles and patience.

In a rare appeal reflecting burgeoning popular sentiment, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Wednesday directly urged Pope John Paul II to make Mother Teresa a saint by 2000. Mahony's dramatic public exhortation came just hours after he faxed a letter to the Vatican calling for her canonization. While other leading bishops have said that Mother Teresa should be made a saint, none have gone as far as Mahony in calling for her elevation within three years.

Early in "The Saint," which opens Friday, the young boy who will grow up to be the resourceful rogue of the title is seen emulating his heroes, the medieval Knights of Templar. Seeking to "rescue" the locked-down girls at his repressive Catholic orphanage in East Asia, he runs through the halls with a flag draped over his shoulders--a caped crusader, if you will. "Oh!" exclaims Val Kilmer, the actor who plays the adult version of the character, when this is pointed out to him. "I never got that!

Fox Sports, motivated by greed, has elected to place its premium programming with its new Fox Sports West 2 in order to manipulate knuckleheads throughout the region to call their cable companies so that the channel may be added to their local cable lineup. While the cable industry will never be accused of sainthood, Fox chose not to allow its new offering to earn its audience, as ESPN and Prime Ticket did over many years, but instead to coerce the fans into clamoring for it. Perhaps the name should be changed to Like a Fox. DAVID M. PAGE Ventura

For the Rev. John Peret, defining a miracle isn't as easy as looking it up in the dictionary. Peret specializes in investigating miracles, particularly miraculous healings. Six years ago, he took on the job of researching the claims of people who believe their prayers were answered by a 17th century Mohawk Indian woman who converted to Catholicism.

This being election year and all, I nominate Mary Ortiz (grand matriarch of the Boyle Heights family) as the third-party Sainthood candidate ("Center of Their Universe," photographed by Genaro Molina, Aug. 4). Nora Barsuk Glendale

Is sainthood possible for the late Father Patrick Peyton, the "rosary priest" remembered for the slogan: "The family that prays together, stays together"? The Family Rosary, based in Albany, N.Y., and Family Theater Productions in Hollywood, two groups founded by the priest from the Holy Cross religious order, have sent letters to 50,000 people on their mailing lists, asking if they favor launching a campaign for beatification and sainthood by the Vatican.