Canonization

Although saints and versions of sainthoods exist in many religions, the ideas that most people hold about saints, and in particular Patron Saints, are those of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has over 10,000 saints, officially declared and approved by the competent authority of the Church.

Prior to the year 1234, the Church did not have a formal process as such. Usually martyrs and those recognized as holy were declared saints by the Church at the time of their deaths. Before the legalization of Christianity in the year 313 by Emperor Constantine, the tombs of martyrs, like St. Peter, were marked and kept as places for homage. The anniversaries of their deaths were remembered and placed on the local Church calendar. After legalization, oftentimes basilicas or shrines were built over these tombs.
Saints were once chosen by the democratic method of public acclaim, however, the people being chosen by this method were often elevated by legend and in some cases there are doubts they even existed. To tackle this problem the Vatican, and the Pope, took over choosing and naming Saints via a process called canonization; which is conducted by the congregation for the course of canonization.

In the year 1234, Pope Gregory IX established procedures to investigate the life of a candidate to sainthood and any attributed miracles. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V entrusted the Congregation of Rites (later named the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints) to oversee the entire process. Beginning with Pope Urban VIII in 1634, various Popes have revised and improved the norms and procedures for canonization until 1983 by Pope John Paul II. And now it follows three main stages.

To oversimplify the process it is a case of “saints should always be judged guilty until they are proven innocent”. Once a person becomes a saint their name is added to the catalogue of saints, they are invoked in public prayers, churches can be dedicated to their memory, Mass can be offered in their honor, feast days celebrate their memory, images of them may have a halo and their remains become holy relics which are publicly honored.

Why Saints?

Once a person is in heaven, enjoying the vision of God, nothing can add to his or her eternal glory. The Church canonizes holy people, therefore, not for their sakes, but to present them to the faithful as models of Christian life and as powerful intercessors.
For this reason the Church studies the life and works of those who are being proposed for canonization for evidence of holiness and of heroism in the practice of virtue. They look for evidence of the theological virtues: faith, hope and charity; of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit; humility and prudence and prayerfulness. The Church also wants evidence that after their deaths the memory of those persons continued to inspire the faithful to pursue holiness and to seek their intercession, so reports of favors requested and received must be kept. Extraordinary healings must have medical records, doctor’s assessments and proof that the healing is attributable to the person being proposed for Canonization.

Today the process proceeds as follows: When a person dies who has fame of sanctity or fame of martyrdom, a promoter group from the diocese, parish, religious or congregation asks the Diocesan Bishop for an opening of an investigation five years after the death of the candidate. One element is whether any special favor or miracle has been granted through this candidate saint’s intercession. The Church will also investigate the candidate’s writings to see if they possess purity of doctrine, essentially, nothing heretical or against the faith. All of this information is gathered, and then a transumptum, a faithful copy, duly authenticated and sealed, is submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. Once the cause is accepted by the Congregation a “nihil obstat” is granted for the candidate to be called, “Servant of God”, further investigation is conducted.

• Diocesan tribunal hears witnesses and testimony on heroic Christian virtues. Meanwhile members of the Theological Commission and Historical Commission are officially appointed. Theological Commission studies the candidate’s writings, published and unpublished to ascertain faithfulness to teachings of the Catholic Church while the Historical Commission collects and examines all the documents of the candidate. The Postulator (official secretary) presents acts and documentation (Positio) to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. After favorable judgment and Papal approval, the candidate is declared “Venerable” by the Pope, meaning that they are heroic in nature and have reached the first level of being sacred. The person can be acclaimed as exemplary in matters of faith and witness. If the candidate was a martyr, the Congregation determines whether he died for the faith and truly offered his life in a sacrifice of love for Christ and the Church. In other cases, the congregation examines to see if the candidate was motivated by a profound charity towards his neighbor, and practiced the virtues in an exemplary manner and with heroism. Throughout this investigation the “general promoter of the faith,” or devil’s advocate, raises objections and doubts which must be resolved. Once a candidate is declared to have lived life with heroic virtue, he may be declared Venerable.