Walter of Pontoise

Walter of Pontoise (; – ) was a French abbot. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, the last saint to be canonized by an ecclesiastical authority other than the pope.

Life Born in Andainville in modern-day northern France, he was a professor of philosophy and rhetoric before becoming a Benedictine monk at Rebais (diocese of Meaux). A story told of him is that while a novice, Walter took pity on an inmate at the monastery prison and helped the prisoner to escape.

Walter left his position at Pontoise to become a monk at Cluny under Hugh but he was forced to return to Pontoise.

Veneration

Walter was buried in the abbey at Pontoise. He was canonized by Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen, in 1153, and was the last saint in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the pope. "The last case of canonization by a metropolitan is said to have been that of St. Gaultier, or Gaucher, abbat of Pontoise, by the Archbishop of Rouen, A.D. 1153. A decree of Pope Alexander III, A.D. 1170, gave the prerogative to the pope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned."

During the French Revolution, his body was translated to the cemetery of Pontoise, and was later lost. The College of Saint Martin of Pontoise, now an Oratorian foundation, celebrates his feast.