"Saint" Ishmael?

[Antonius_Lupus]

Is it proper to refer to Ishmael of the Bible as a “saint.” For example, we may say St. Abraham or St. Isaac, and so on. What about Ishmael? The Catechism states:

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.

Of course, the question is which “certain Old Testament figures” are to be honored.

Given that Ishmael is a common baptismal name, we’ve had Christian saints named “Ishmael,” and the Biblical stories about Ishmael, might it be possible to include among the Biblical Patriarchs and holy figures Ishmael? Would it be right to honor Ishmael (particularly among Arab Catholics) and even to give him the title of “saint?”

 

[loozcannon]

In my limited understanding, all of the Old Testament “saints” were folks that were descended from Abraham, through Isaac, not Ishmael. So, I’m not sure if Ishmael would even qualify.

But I’d love some education on this.

 

[akka]

According to the quote you give;

61 The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.

Yes, you could. But to avoid controversion with Catholic bashing community such as the muslims, you should avoid it since they gonna bring up the Isaac-Ishmael issue thus lead to our bible VS their hadith arguement.