Many of us may be unfamiliar with the processes of Canonization, the procedures adopted by the Church, through the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. But no one can argue that we are all are invited to be Saints.
Newsroom 04/01/2023 9:00 AM, Gaudium Press ) Many people are unaware of how the Church comes to declare a person a Saint and of the procedures adopted by the Holy See in a canonization process. It is estimated that there are about 20 thousand Saints and Blesseds recognized by the Catholic Church. This number seems large, but is actually very small if we consider the current population of the planet, which has exceeded eight billion – and even smaller if we estimate the number of people born since the Creation of humanity.
The processes of Canonization are conducted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which comes from the Sacred Congregation of Rites, an institution created in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. Its purpose was to regulate these procedures with the use of rigorous criteria for the proof of sanctity.
How does the Church determine someone’s holiness?
First of all, it is necessary to understand what holiness is. The Church attributes the title of Saint to a person who has lived the faith in a heroic way, either through the witness of martyrdom or through their way of life.
When someone who deserves the title of Saint is brought forth, a process known as the ‘Process of Canonization’ is carried out and, once all the formal stages have been completed, the “candidate” for sainthood has his or her name inscribed in the Canon, that is, the official list of the Church. From then on, the Saint has the right to universal public worship, to have his or her image placed on church altars, and objects of personal use, even parts of their clothing or bodies (fragments of bones, blood, strands of hair) may be carried as relics by the faithful.
But to reach this level, there is a long way to go. It is a journey that can last years, decades or even centuries.
The stages of the Process of Canonization
The first condition for the start of a canonization process is that the candidate for sainthood must have been baptized in the Catholic Church. Normally, processes are begun to contemplate people who die with a reputation for holiness. It is not uncommon for some people, due to the uprightness of their conduct, the fulfilment of God’s laws, and the practice of charity, to be considered Saints while they are still alive. However, it is a ‘sine qua non’ – a necessary condition, that the person be deceased. There are no canonization processes involving living persons.
Once the request arrives at the Vatican and the opening of the process is authorized, it will be up to the Bishop of the diocese to which the person belonged to choose a postulator who will be responsible for making the first enquiries into the person’s life.
In this initial phase of the process, which takes place at the diocesan level, the candidate will be called “Servant of God”. A rigorous examination of the life and virtues of this person will then take place. If it is a person with ecclesial involvement, books, sermons and other documents written by the person will also be examined.
Once this stage is concluded, all the documentation is sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican. Once the virtues have been approved, the Servant of God receives the title of Venerable, which means that he or she becomes worthy of veneration.
How many miracles are necessary?
The next stage is Beatification, for which the presentation of a miracle achieved through the intercession of the Venerable is required. The requirement of a miracle is not required in cases where the person has been martyred in defense of the Faith.
After the recognition of the miracle or of the martyrdom, the person is considered Blessed, which corresponds to being happy with God.
It is also common to come across the term “cause of beatification“, which is one of the stages of the main process, which is the actual canonization.
The last step is the recognition of a second miracle achieved through the intercession of the Blessed. Only then will the Pope declare the person to be a Saint and a model of Christian life for all the faithful.
It is certain that there is an incalculable number of Saints who have not gone through this process and are not formally recognized by the Church, which is very strict, judicious and prudent, preferring to have one less Saint in its Canon than to make any mistake that could shake the faith.
What is required for the proof of a miracle?
The procedure for determining a miracle involves investigation by a commission made up of theologians and specialized scientists. According to the Church, almost all miracles are related to the healing of some serious illness. But for the recovery to be qualified as divine, the sick person must first have been deemed incurable by doctors and then, after that, completely cured.
The healing must occur spontaneously and immediately, without any doctor or specialist being able to find a possible explanation for the phenomenon. Another fundamental detail is that the person who has received the miracle has asked for the intercession of a particular “Saint”, so that it is clear that the miracle took place through him or her.
The devil’s advocate
The ‘Devil’s Advocate’, or ‘promotor fidei’ (promoter of the faith) was a high level prelate with the task of arguing against the canonization of a candidate, trying to uncover any character flaws, misrepresentation of the evidence in favour of canonization, or inconsistency in the evidence of the supposed miracles.
Despite the name, the purpose of the ‘devil’s advocate’, whose office was instituted by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, was to guarantee the prevalence of truth and to ensure that such proceedings did not occur without deserved cause.
This function was abolished by Pope St. John Paul II in 1983, with the aim of making the process of sanctification simpler, faster, less expensive and more productive. It was from this decision that the compilation of evidence came under the responsibility of the local Bishops. Without doubt, this change facilitated the process and allowed an increase in the number of beatifications and canonizations.
If we consider the most recent popes, St. John Paul II canonized 482 saints, Pope Benedict XVI canonized 45 and Pope Francis, more than 900 (this high number is due to the massive canonization of 800 Italian Martyrs by Pope Francis in 2013).
The first Brazilian Saint is Friar Galvão, canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 May, 2007, but the number of Saints, Blessed, Venerables, and Servants of God brought forward during his pontificate is in the area of 200. This number is without considering almost a hundred “Saints of Consideration”: those who are seen as Saints by the faithful, although they do not yet have open canonization processes.
Is Holiness a privilege?
Holiness is mentioned in various biblical passages, is explicit in the Gospels and in St. Paul’s Letters, and is unequivocally expressed in the Book of Revelation of St. John (Rev 6:9-11; 7:9-16).
To be holy is not the privilege of a few, but an invitation for all. From birth, human beings are called to holiness, and in order to be holy there is a very simple recipe: keep the Commandments and do the Will of God Who is in Heaven.
Choosing the path to holiness makes for an excellent New Year’s resolution!
To learn more about how to walk the path of holiness, watch the course The Path to Holiness, based on the book The Sanctified Religious, by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori and supported by an extensive Catholic bibliography.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
