Behar: 'Some Saints' Canonized Because They Were 'Psychotic'

‘View’ co-host Joy Behar followed up her anti-Catholic "saints are crazy" line, noting she "got in trouble with the Catholic Church." Though she emphasized it was "not all but some," she still called them "nuts" and "psychotic," and added that "not all of them deserved to be saints." Behar also added her opinions how crazy people in medieval Europe would be able to escape punishment by saying they were saints.

"I mean, let’s say that you were a person in those days, right? And you were hearing voices, and maybe you were mentally ill, but you were not stupid. As they say ‘I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.’ So you said to yourself, ‘let’s see, if people think I’m crazy they’re going to put me in a dungeon. If I pretend to be a saint, they’ll name a church after me.’"

This was brought up as Whoopi Goldberg mentioned that Pope Benedict called for stricter guidelines for canonizing saints. Goldberg implied that the pope agrees with Behar exclaiming "you’re not the only one who feels this way." Behar responded with joy "Pope Benedict and I both." None of the co-hosts stepped up and called out Behar on her inflammatory charge. Token conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck said that Behar’s comments were "actually very pro-saint."

The conversation continued in a fact free zone, contrary to Behar’s claim that they "do our research here." A conversation continued about St. Christopher.

BEHAR: Wait a second. They also will get rid of certain people like St. Christopher is no longer a saint, so now he’s like "Mr. Christopher" which sounds like a hairdresser on Rodeo Drive.

HASSELBECK: What did he do to not be a saint?

BEHAR: He wasn’t good enough. I don’t know. These are details.

HASSELBECK: There must be so many spots, and they fill them in.

A quick search will find that St. Christopher actually was taken off the calendar in 1969 because there is not enough historical evidence of his existence. The co-hosts need to do more of their research.

The ladies also discussed the canonization process and there was a great deal of confusion of how many miracles (as Joy says "hearing voices") are required for sainthood. Joy first claimed the criteria changed with Mother Theresa because "she was just good."

BEHAR: Well, Mother Theresa changed the sort of the criteria a little bit too, because she was just good.

GOLDBERG: Well, no she just got miracles attached to her, yeah.

BEHAR: She did?

GOLDBERG: You have to have miracles attached to you, before-

BEHAR: How many?

GOLDBERG: I think one.

BEHAR: No, I think three.

HASSELBECK: I think two, you have to hear voices-

GOLDBERG: Why did you ask if you know? I don’t know!

BEHAR: I wanted to confirm the three.

Another quick search for these allegedly well researched women, will find that two miracles need to be associated with a person to be canonized as a saint.

The entire transcript is below.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Now, I don’t know if you watch us everyday, but perhaps you don’t. I’m going to do a little catch up with you. A couple of weeks ago we were talking about saints and maybe they, there’s reasons why there haven’t been any saints, and Joy had a really interesting take on it. Which was, that you felt that with the onset of Prozac all of these other things, people aren’t hearing voices anymore. [laughter] Right?

JOY BEHAR: Yeah and I got in trouble with the Catholic Church.

GOLDBERG: You got in trouble.

BEHAR: But my implica- and also my cousin in Pennsylvania, the priests’ mother got upset, and so I’m not saying anything against them. I’m saying some of them might have been psychotic, some of them might not have been. Not all of them deserved to be saints. Some of them were nuts.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: You’re saying now they would be deemed as needing medication so-

GOLDBERG: Some of them, yeah.

BEHAR: Now it’s hard to find, because you have thorazine and things that stop the voices

[laughter]

SHERRI SHEPHERD: Well but-

GOLDBERG: Well, you- go ahead.

SHEPHERD: I just wanted to know-

BEHAR: I don’t think there was anything wrong with what I said and they got upset.

GOLDBERG: I know they did.

SHEPHERD: Well, my question for you is-

HASSELBECK: It’s actually very pro-saint what you said.

SHEPHERD: What is the qualification to be a saint? You said you have to hear voices from God?

BEHAR: Well, in the old days you did.

SHEPHERD: They said they heard from God?

HASSELBECK: What if it’s just one voice?

GOLDBERG: There was a lot of stuff. There was a lot of stuff going on. But now here’s the interesting thing. Pope Benedict told the Vatican to use stricter criteria for candidates for sainthood.

BEHAR: Well, he’s German. [laughter] He’s going to be strict.

GOLDBERG: But listen to this.

HASSELBECK: That is so stereotypical.

GOLDBERG: But listen to this. His predecessor , John Paul II, canonized almost 500 saints. More than all of the other popes combined.

HASSELBECK: Good for him. The more, the merrier, I say. Just bring on the saints.

BEHAR: Well, wait a minute, he beatified 1,000 I believe. Beatification is like being nominated for the Oscar. Canonization is you actually win. It’s like that.

HASSELBECK: I grew up with the saints. I came from, like a very Roman Catholic family. So anytime something went wrong, like I would lose, you know, my key, or lose my book, my grandmother would say "here’s a card of St. Anthony. You just pray to St. Anthony and you will find it." So I kind of grew up with Anthony and Jude-

BEHAR: You know how many earrings I’ve lost that St. Anthony can not find? Please!

[laughter]

HASSELBECK: St. Anthony has found so many of my things.

GOLDBERG: And keys, husbands.

SHEPHERD: Someone gave me a saint for the baby. When I went to get pregnant, they gave me the card for- I don’t remember which saint it was.

HASSELBECK: Saint-

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Saint Gerard

GOLDBERG: How come no one gave me St. Gerard when I got pregnant? Is he new?

BEHAR: Wait a second. They also will get rid of certain people like St. Christopher is no longer a saint, so now he’s like "Mr. Christopher" which sounds like a hairdresser on Rodeo Drive.

HASSELBECK: What did he do to not be a saint?

BEHAR: He wasn’t good enough. I don’t know. These are details.

HASSELBECK: There must be so many spots, and they fill them in.

GOLDBERG: Well, that’s the interesting thing, and people got so upset with you and what you were saying and, and obviously, you know, you’re not the only one who feels like this.

BEHAR: Pope Benedict and I both.

GOLDBERG: Benny! You and Pope Benny.

SHEPHERD: So do you have to give certain things from God, now to become a saint, a certain lingo?

BEHAR: Well, Mother Theresa changed the sort of the criteria a little bit too, because she was just good.

GOLDBERG: Well, no she just got miracles attached to her, yeah.

BEHAR: She did?

GOLDBERG: You have to have miracles attached to you, before-

BEHAR: How many?

GOLDBERG: I think one.

BEHAR: No, I think three.

HASSELBECK: I think two, you have to hear voices-

GOLDBERG: Why did you ask if you know? I don’t know!

BEHAR: I wanted to confirm the three.

SHEPHERD: One miracle, two miracle, five miracle...and sold!

GOLDBERG: It’s interesting, it’s interesting, you know, because when I was a kid, and you know, you had relics of saints. They had pieces of saints that you carried. You know, they, they were very meaningful in the Catholic Church. I think what’s happened now, and I just, I hate to keep bringing it up, but I was quite amused that people were so upset by the idea that it might have been triggered by all kinds of things as opposed to not just hearing the voice, but maybe because the person might have been ill, they heard it clearer.

BEHAR: Exactly!

GOLDBERG: It just was, is impossible to discuss and it’s very interesting.

BEHAR: Not all, but some. I mean, let’s say that you were a person in those days, right? And you were hearing voices, and maybe you were mentally ill, but you were not stupid. As they say "I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid." So you said to yourself, "let’s see, if people think I’m crazy they’re going to put me in a dungeon. If I pretend to be a saint, they’ll name a church after me."

HASSELBECK: Wait, wait, wait. I’m not about that idea!

GOLDBERG: The interesting thing, because if you, if you-

BEHAR: Am I in more trouble now?

GOLDBERG: No, no, no.

HASSELBECK: Yes! Yes you are!

GOLDBERG: No, no.

BEHAR: Forgive me Catholics, but I’m a Catholic girl. These are things that go on in people’s minds.

GOLDBERG: The truth of the matter is, if there were people who say "you know what? If I say I hear from God, I can talk to more people. I can get to more people."

HASSELBECK: Or the divine sacrifice that they’ve made, yeah.

GOLDBERG: There’s a whole bunch of stuff, yeah.

HASSELBECK: They were slaughtered. They were killed for their faith. I think that’s something that-

SHEPHERD: I would be scared if I said you hear God and then become a saint and then you get before God, and you was [sic] being, you know-

BEHAR: Well, that’s the tricky part! That’s the tricky part!

GOLDBERG: I thought it was You! [laughter] I’ll tell You, I swear to You I thought You were in my head!

[laughter and applause]