DENVER, CO ¨C As of October 1, 2008 for the first time ever, the Vatican's official list of saints is available online. eCatholicHub.net has created a searchable database of saints and blesseds based on the Roman Martyrology, the Vatican's saint list. The database comprises 6,882 entries of men and women recognized for their sanctity by the Catholic Church. While several saint databases are available online, none have the authoritative scope of the Roman Martyrology like the eCatholicHub database. The eCatholicHub database does not leave out any saint or blessed, making it the most comprehensive source for saint information on the Internet.
Mark Giszczak, a graduate student at Catholic University of America, teamed up with Jim Zapapas, a Denver database programmer, to create the database. Since the Roman Martyrology is only published in Latin, Mr. Giszczak translated names, titles and geographical terms to be included in the database. For each saint or blessed, the database includes his or her full name, feast day, year of death and the number which indicates in what order the person is remembered on his or her feast day. For hundreds of saints, the database also incorporates special titles, pictures and biographical information. The database is presented with JavaScript programming and allows users to search for saints by name or to conduct advanced searches using multiple criteria. Users can find th
eir favorite saints or the most obscure. They can find patron saints and namesakes, martyrs and bishops, saints from every place and time.
The last edition of the Roman Martyrology was published in 2004. But the Vatican continually updates the list with beatifications and canonizations, so the eCatholicHub database has kept pace by including all the saints and blesseds which have been added since 2004. eCatholicHub decided to fund the project for two main reasons. First, since the pontificate of John Paul II, so many new saints and blesseds have been added that it has been hard for the Catholic faithful to keep up. This database provides a way for people to get vital information about these saints which they did not have before. Second, the Roman Martyrology is only published in Latin, but this database gives English-speakers access to the Roman Martyrology without knowledge of Latin. eCatholicHub felt that Catholics have a right to this information and that it was a need the site could fill.
Now if someone wants to find out if a person is a saint or not, they can look here. If they want to find saints celebrated on a particular day or with a particular name, they can search here. It is currently the most powerful saint database on the web and it should be extremely useful for lay people and specialists alike. If you would like more information about this event, or to schedule an interview with Bob Lemming, Mark Giszczak or Jim Zapapas, call Bob at 303-316-7182 or email him at blemming@medallionllc.com.
