171036 20260505142649.0 doi 10.1017/S000964072610328X sideral 149154 ART-2026-149154 eng Ramón Solans, Francisco Javier Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-8667-3553 A global saint for the modern world? the transnational campaign for the canonization of Christopher Columbus 2026 This article analyzes the history of the campaign for the canonization of Christopher Columbus in the nineteenth century, the reformulation of the models of sainthood and, more generally, discourses that tried to explain the role of Catholicism in the development of Western civilization. I argue that the campaign was conceived as an apology for the contribution of Catholicism to the birth of the modern world and had, from its origins, a marked anti-Protestant character. Although the idea for the campaign originated in France, this campaign was characterized by its strong transnational dimension, involving Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic. In this sense, promoting a saint between two continents had a geopolitical dimension, reinforcing Rome’s connection with the Americas and, in particular, North America. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2023-146937NB-I00 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 3012 450 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Historia Área Historia Contemporánea (2026), 1-21 Church History 0009-6407 331671 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171036/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 1628879 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/171036/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:171036 articulos driver 2026-05-05-13:36:14 ARTICLE