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WikiProject Saints was started by Kpalion on June 1, 2004 with one lone member. Six years later, the project is home to 70 members handling nearly 5,000 pages. The project covers 25 featured articles and lists as well as 24 A-class and good articles. WikiProject Saints primarily focuses on holy men, women, and angels within the Christian tradition although the project welcomes saints from other religions. The project maintains a to-do list, missing articles list, and a portal. This week we interviewed John Carter.
What motivated you to become a member of WikiProject Saints? Which saint interests you the most?
I am interested in both biographies and mythology. This is one of the few topics which really extensively deals with both. Particularly regarding the earliest saints, there are a number of legends which are really strange. Saint Christopher was a cannibal with a horse's head? Rrrriiiiight. The idea of Eve and the Celtic goddess Saint Brigid being midwives at the nativity of Jesus is an "interesting" one too. In terms of my favorite, I was confirmed in the Catholic Church with the name Thomas Aquinas, so I guess I would have to say him.
The project maintains a lengthy list of saints included in one or more liturgical calendars that do not currently have a Wikipedia article. Have there been any efforts to tackle this list? What are the most difficult aspects of writing about these lesser-known saints?
In a sense, the sheer number of them. One of the standard references, Holweck's Biographical Dictionary of the Saints, contains at least a short listing for every name known at the time of publication (the 1920s) and some other sources mentioning that individual. But even that book, in two-column format, is over 1,000 pages long, and is about 100 years old, so new canonizations/beatifications/etc. since then aren't listed.
WikiProject Saints has 25 pieces of featured content as well as nearly 25 good articles. Which of these articles are you most proud of being involved with? Overall, what have been some of the project's greatest achievements?
I think we may still have as a long-term goal having the Portal:Saints get updated on a daily basis, listing the various saints and/or other commemorations which are observed on that given day. Having available as many of the individual liturgical calendars as possible would definitely help in that regard.
Next week, we'll visit the natural world without leaving the city. Until then, observe the wildlife roaming around the archive.
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