Here is a link to the Kare 11 Story regarding Monsignor Buh
Author: Karla Hult
Published: 10:40 PM CST February 25, 2025
Updated: 10:40 PM CST Febr
MINNEAPOLIS — Two Minnesotans are being considered to become the state’s first saints.
And if that alone doesn’t represent divine timing, the efforts to canonize the Minnesotan candidates come at a time when the world is also praying for the recovery of Pope Francis.
In January, leaders of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, sent a letter to the Vatican to take the next saintly step on behalf of Sister Annella Zervas. The letter follows the Nov. 12 decision by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to “overwhelmingly” (by a vote of 206 to 7) “advance the canonization cause of Sister Annella Zervas.”
“Sister Annella knew her Lord was with her in her suffering,” Bishop Andrew Cozzens said at the time about the nun who showed “unwavering trust” in God before dying from a rare disease in 1926 at the age of 26.
Also being considered for canonization – though still at an early stage – is Monsignor Joseph Buh. The Diocese of Duluth describes Buh, a missionary from Slovenia who served the Slovenian immigrant and Native American communities in Minnesota until his death in 1922, as a role model for people of all times.
“He’s a missionary for our own time because he models for us who we need to be today. And I think that that’s why it’s such a source of inspiration. I think that’s why it’s catching on at a grassroots level; that we’re not talking about somebody from the past, we’re talking about somebody who’s taking us into the future,” said Bishop Daniel Felton of the Diocese of Duluth.
And lest you think the Minnesotan dioceses have an easy task ahead of them, consider the Catholic history: In its 2000-year history, the Catholic Church is believed to have recognized more than 10,000 saints. But only 11 of those people are from the United States, and none of them are from Minnesota.
The saintly process… and yes, it’s a process
Sure enough, the process to becoming a saint – specifically as outlined by the USCCB – is thorough and involves several rounds of review, in-depth investigations and approvals by bishops – both regionally and nationally – before even beginning valuation by the Vatican.
And Catholic leaders say that amounts to years – maybe even lifetimes – of “discernment.”
“My role has been basically… to start the discernment of a potential cause,” said Father Richard Kunst, pastor of St. James and St. Elizabeth in Duluth, about his efforts related to Monsignor Buh.
In July, the diocese exhumed Buh’s body to eventually be moved to their cathedral. That decision was solely made to honor “the Patriarch of the Diocese,” Kunst says, but he also believes “the formal cause will be introduced by the end of 2025.”
Eventually, the process involves an in-depth investigation that will include all the communities ministered to by a candidate for canonization. In Buh’s case, both the Slovenian and Native American communities will be thoroughly consulted. And while some Native American leaders have generally stated concerns that missionaries acted as “colonists” in their practices, no evidence has surfaced that suggests Buh was anything but beloved.
But this process also involves a divine – or more specifically, saintly – intervention.
“For the canonization process, there has to be miracles that happen after the death of the person to show that they are, in fact, praying for that same cause for intercession,” he said, before adding: “So there has to be at least two miracles to have happened and declared by the church being truly without any natural explanation for a canonization to actually happen.”
Essentially, it’s an effort, Kunst says, of “praying, praying, waiting, praying, hoping for a miracle.”
One family’s prayers for a miracle by Monsignor Buh
As a child growing up in Ely, Minnesota, Charles Erickson always knew the name of Joseph Buh.
“She said Father Buh had helped her out many times when she didn’t have enough food to feed her kids,” Erickson said about his Grandma Francis.
“She always told me ever since I was a child that he was a saint, so I’m proud to be a tiny part, maybe, in helping, you know, that come true,” he reflected, while also recalling how Buh’s picture hung in his grandparents’ home, right alongside pictures of the Pope and President John F. Kennedy.
Today, Charles is truly trying to play that “tiny part,” by praying for a miracle for his wife, Karen.
“They think it’s autoimmune disease. But she has a number of lesions, tumors in the brain that have caused brain damage,” Charles shared about Karen’s battles.
“I have done everything I can do, from an earthly standpoint. We’ve been at Mayo. We’ve been through all the doctors here in Duluth,” Charles said, before sharing,”We pray. We ask God to, you know, to help us. And Father Buh is hopefully helping us carry our prayers.”
Sister Annella Wagner
At 95 years old, Sister Annella Wagner of the St. Scholastic Monastery says she’s proof of the power of prayers and also a living representative of a miracle associated with Sister Annella Zervas.
“She actually saved my mother’s life,” Sister Wagner said about complications during her mother’s pregnancy that resulted in doctors believing they may lose both child and mother.
“My Grandma Wagner had a small relic of the Sister Annella. She died in ’26 and I was born in ’29. And so my mother wore that relic, and they prayed to her,” Sister Annella Wagner said, noting that her mother’s condition cleared up before her birth.
And while Sister Annella Wagner owes her name to that candidate for canonization, she also has a connection to Monsignor Buh. Sister Annella’s childhood home and birthplace was in Buh Township.
“He had a zeal of a missionary work that he had to bring God to as many people as he could,” she said about Monsignor Buh.
And Sister Annella Wagner is far from alone in her fervor. Sister Beverly Raway, the Prioress of St. Scholastica Monastery, says two Sisters – Sister Bernard Coleman and Sister Verona LaBud – literally wrote the book, called Masinaigans: The Little Book about Buh’s ministry to the Native American community.
Raway further shared in a statement:
“The Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery are very interested in the cause for canonization of Monsignor Joseph Buh. There is a long historical connection of the sisters to his missionary work in the Diocese of Duluth. The founder of our monastery, Mother Scholastica Kerst, was a close friend of Monsignor Buh. He presided over her funeral Mass in 1911.
As for Sister Annella Wagner, her calling may have been both divine and destined. But this 95-year-old nun also believes every saintly example can inspire every person of every belief.
“The lives of all the saints, they’ve always given encouragement to move on, to move ahead,” Sister Wagner said, before adding: “Encourage us to take better care of ourselves and of the earth and of each other.”
