Canonization Inquiry Opens for CUA Alumnus Daniel Anderl

Image Courtesy of CBS News.

By Anthony Curioso

The Diocese of Metuchen in New Jersey announced on September 30 that it has launched an inquiry into opening a canonization case for Daniel Anderl, a recent CUA alumnus.

This decision comes just over five years after Anderl was shot and killed in July 2020 at the hands of an attorney. At the time, the shooter had a pending case before Anderl’s mother, New Jersey federal judge Esther Salas. Anderl was at home with Salas and his father, Mark, when the gunman appeared at their doorstep; realizing the imminent danger, Anderl stepped between the gunman and his parents, ultimately taking the fatal bullets himself.

In October 2021, during a CUA on Tap event hosted by CUA’s Campus Ministry for which Salas and Mark Anderl were the featured speakers, the CUA administration awarded a bachelor’s degree in memoriam to Daniel Anderl. At the time of his death, Daniel Anderl was a rising junior at CUA and would have received his bachelor’s degree in May 2022.

In December 2022, the United States Congress passed the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, which further seeks to protect judges’ personal information from resale by data brokers and allows federal judges to redact personal information displayed on government websites.

Just before departing from the Diocese of Metuchen to take on a new role as coadjutor bishop of New Orleans, Bishop James Checchio released a letter announcing his decision to initiate an investigation into Daniel Anderl’s cause for sainthood.

“After prayerful consideration, I have decided to establish a diocesan commission to explore your request to look into the sainthood cause for Daniel Mark Anderl,” the letter said in part. “I have asked four of our diocesan Canonists to begin the process of research of what is required from the diocese.”

Bishop Checchio’s letter, addressed to Fr. Robert Lynam, the pastor of the Anderls’ home parish in Kendall Park, New Jersey, expressed his support for the parishioners as they “[commend] Daniel’s cause to Almighty God, asking that His will be done in all things.”

In an article published on the My Central Jersey website on October 10, Fr. Lynam said that he believed Daniel Anderl qualified for sainthood because his case fits into a category of saints promulgated by Pope Francis in 2017: “offering of life.” 

According to National Public Radio (NPR), saints falling into the offering of life category are persons who meet five main criteria:

1. The individual must freely and voluntarily offer their life in the face of “a certain and soon-to-come death.”
2. There must be a “close relation” between “the offering of one’s life and the premature death of the one who offers it.”
3. The person must show Christian virtues, at least to an ordinary extent, before and after offering their life.
4. They must have a “reputation for holiness” at least after their death.
5. They must have performed a miracle—a significant difference from the “martyrdom” category, which does not require one.

Upon the death of Daniel Anderl, then University President John Garvey said, “We all mourn and grieve this loss to our University community.”  Fr. Jude DeAngelo, OFM Conv., then the University Chaplain, offered a memorial Mass for Daniel Anderl, and the University also established a scholarship fund in his memory with the help of other CUA alumni. In 2021, the Columbus School of Law installed a plaque in his honor because, according to Salas, Daniel was planning to follow in her footsteps by pursuing a career in law.