French statesman Robert Schuman, known as the “Father of Europe” for his role in creating the institutions that became the European Union, has been put on the path towards possible sainthood by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis on June 19 approved a decree declaring the “heroic virtues3 of Schuman, a devout Catholic during his life. He can now be called “venerable” by Catholics, one of the many steps in the long process to be recognised as a saint by the Rome-based church.
Schuman is described by the European Commission website as “one of the founding fathers of European unity” and “the architect of the project of European integration.” Born in 1886 in Luxembourg, Schuman later became a French citizen, and for a short while supported Marshal Pétain, a Nazi collaborator during World War II who was later sentenced to death. Schuman was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo in 1940 during Germany’s occupation of France.