Promoter of Justice and Interrogatories in a Cause is the cause official's responsibility to safeguard lawful, complete proof-gathering and to prepare neutral questions that elicit concrete facts and each witness's source of knowledge.
An office directed to completeness and legality
The Promoter of Justice must remain vigilant that the law is faithfully observed and that all acts and documents relevant to the inquiry's object are gathered thoroughly. The official collaborates actively and methodically with the episcopal delegate. This role protects the public ecclesial search for truth rather than representing either the petitioner or a private opponent of the candidate.[1]
Promoter of Justice and Interrogatories in a Cause narrows the established general office of Promoter of Justice to its specific evidentiary work in a cause of saints. It is not a new grade of promoter, a canonization prosecutor charged to defeat the cause, or another name for the postulator. The postulator advances the petition; the promoter tests the record under authority.
Material supplied before questioning
Ordinarily witnesses are heard after documentary proofs have been gathered. The bishop gives the promoter the libellus material, the opinions of the Theological Censors of a Servant of God's Writings, and the materials and report of historical experts. That sequence permits questions grounded in the record, subject to the urgent Ne pereant probationes exception when important testimony risks loss.[2]
Collaboration with experts
The promoter may obtain expert help in drafting questions, and an inquiry into an alleged miracle requires appropriate medical or technical expertise. Experts contribute questions within their competence; they do not displace the promoter's duty to shape and sign the interrogatories or the episcopal delegate's role in conducting the sessions and requesting clarification.
How interrogatories are constructed and protected
Questions must elicit concrete facts and the source of the witness's knowledge. They begin with identity and relationship to the candidate, remain brief and intelligible, avoid deception and suggested answers, and do not combine several questions at once. In a virtues inquiry they seek precise examples for each virtue rather than inviting broad claims that the person was obviously saintly.
Interrogatories are signed, dated, and kept from witnesses before their depositions, although biographical data may be made available. Confidentiality reduces rehearsal and permits comparison of independent accounts. It does not authorize surprise tactics or ambiguous questioning: witnesses must be treated justly, understand what is asked, and be able to identify uncertainty, hearsay, or lack of knowledge.
Distinct from advocacy and final judgment
A well-framed interrogatory is not a questionnaire for generating favorable quotations. Nor may it assume the alleged miracle, martyrdom, or heroic degree it is meant to investigate. The promoter explores adverse evidence and alternative explanations without deciding the merits. Testimony, documents, expert reports, and later Roman study together contribute to moral certitude.
The office also differs from the Historical Commission in a Cause of Saints and from theological censors. Historians authenticate and contextualize sources; censors review writings for faith and morals; the promoter ensures completeness and frames witness examination. A single person cannot collapse those distinct safeguards into informal case management merely because the cause is small or the candidate widely admired.[3]
References
- 1.Norms to Be Observed in Inquiries Made by Bishops in the Causes of Saints — The universal procedural norms for initiating, documenting, authenticating, closing, and transmitting a cause
- 2.Sanctorum Mater — The approved instruction for documentary and testimonial evidence, officials, copies, closure, and transmission of diocesan inquiries
- 3.Divinus perfectionis Magister — The apostolic constitution dividing responsibilities between diocesan inquiries and the Roman examination of causes