The Congregation of the Causes of the Saints in the Church is given the mandate to conduct inquiries regarding the life, virtues and reputation of holiness or life and martyrdom of a person(s) in the Church by a bishop in view of the beatification and canonization of the person(s).
One is declared a saint in the Catholic Church to be emulated by Christians as an example of holiness. Any Catholic has a universal call to become a saint by living ordinary life in an extraordinary way.
The process of canonization starts when a Catholic in his/her life, death and after death enjoys reputation (Opinion among the faithful on the purity and integrity of the person) on holiness; living Christian virtues in a heroic manner or enjoys a reputation of martyrdom by following Christ closely by sacrificing his/her life in an act of martyrdom. The reputation must be spontaneous, stable, continuous, widespread and not artificial (invented). The process of beatification and canonization is normally in stages and there is the formation of various responsibilities. The two main stages are:
Cardinal Otunga Starts Long Road to Beatification
The much-anticipated process to beatify Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga, the widely loved and respected former Archbishop of Nairobi, started in 2009. John Cardinal Njue, the then Archbishop of Nairobi named Fr. Anthony Bellagamba (now deceased) as Postulator of the cause.
Currently Dr. Waldery Hilgeman is the Postulator assisted by Fr. Prof. Lawrence Njoroge as Vice Postulator to the cause. Fr. Lawrence has been addressing certain issues in the official Biography of the Servant of God for a full year and in April this year 2021; he completed the task and submitted the material to Rome in the same month of April.
For More information on Servant of God Cardinal Michael Maurice Cardinal Otunga beatification process, please visit this website