Posted October 22, 2021

Archbishop Nelson Perez and officials working on the cause for sainthood of Father Bill Atkinson, the Augustinian who was the first quadriplegic priest in the world to be ordained, affixed signatures and seals for more than 3,000 pages of documentation on the late priest to the Vatican for further review. Read all about the Oct. 19 ceremony at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. (Photos by Sarah Webb)

  • St. Thomas of Villanova Church on the Villanova University campus hosted a ceremony Oct. 19 in which Archbishop Perez and officials finalized documents for the close of the diocesan phase of Augustinian Father Bill Atkinson’s cause for sainthood. The sealed documents will now be sent to Rome for further study.

  • The archbishop signs the official documents in the presence of the Book of Gospels.

  • Father Michael DiGregorio, center, prior provincial for the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, shows his approval along with other Augustinian priests of the path toward sainthood of their brother, Father Bill Atkinson.

  • Father Thomas Dailey, O.S.F.S., episcopal delegate for Father Atkinson’s cause, speaks of the documentation process during the ceremony.

  • Msgr. Gerald Mesure, chancellor of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, speaks about the canonical (church law) precision needed for the diocesan phase of the cause for canonization.

  • The archbishop affixes a seal to the documents so that officials in Rome can attest to their validity.

  • Signers of the documents include, from left: Father Thomas Dailey, O.S.F.S., episcopal delegate for Father Atkinson’s cause; Archbishop Nelson Perez; and Father Sean Bransfield, vice chancellor of the Philadelphia Archdiocese.