An NCR(egister) article on the Pope and the canonization process:

The process of canonization “is really about faith and therefore must be ruled by theological judgments,” according to Dominican Father Gabriel O’Donnell. Postulator for the cause of Knights of Columbus founder Father Michael McGivney, Father O’Donnell said Benedict’s letter is “less about slowing things down and more about being very careful and precise about the process.”

The Pope’s many years of experience as a cardinal in Rome, serving as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “means that he is attentive to the internal workings of the Roman Curia,” and has the knowledge and ability “to confirm certain directions and make suggestions,” Father O’Donnell said.

Among those suggestions is clarifying a widespread misunderstanding in certain cultures as to the nature of a miracle.

“I can’t tell you how many letters I get with regard to Father McGivney of reports of moral miracles,” Father O’Donnell said. A former chaplain for the Knights, according to Father O’Donnell, “said many times in public that the miracle should be the founding of the Knights of Columbus.”

These attitudes stem from a misunderstanding “that a miracle is something Father McGivney did during his lifetime, rather than something that God does as a sign,” Father O’Donnell continued. “The meaning of the miracle is to discern the digitus Dei (finger of God).”