Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognizedsaint,[1] specifically, the official act of aChristian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of saints,[2] or authorized list of that communion's recognized saints.[3][4]
Canonization is apapal declaration that theCatholic faithful mayvenerate a particular deceased member of the church. Popes began making such decrees in the tenth century. Up to that point, the local bishops governed the veneration of holy men and women within their own dioceses; and there may have been, for any particular saint, no formal decree at all. In subsequent centuries, the procedures became increasingly regularized and the Popes began restricting to themselves the right to declare someone a Catholic saint. In contemporary usage, the term is understood to refer to the act by which anyChristian church declares that a person who has died is a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the list of recognized saints, called the "canon".[5]
In the Roman Martyrology, the following entry is given for thePenitent Thief: "At Jerusalem, the commemoration of the good Thief, who confessed Christ on the cross, and deserved to hear from Him these words: 'This day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.'[6][7]
The Roman Canon, the historical Eucharistic Prayer or Anaphora of Canon of theRoman Rite contains only the names of apostles and martyrs, along with that of theBlessed Virgin Mary and, since 1962, that ofSaint Joseph her spouse.
By the fourth century, however, "confessors"—people who had confessed their faith not by dying but by word and life—began to be venerated publicly. Examples of such people are SaintHilarion and SaintEphrem the Syrian in the East, and SaintMartin of Tours and SaintHilary of Poitiers in the West. Their names were inserted in thediptychs, the lists of saints explicitly venerated in theliturgy, and their tombs were honoured in like manner as those of the martyrs. Since the witness of their lives was not as unequivocal as that of the martyrs, they were venerated publicly only with the approval by the localbishop. This process is often referred to as "local canonization".[9]
This approval was required even for veneration of a reputed martyr. In his history of theDonatist heresy,Saint Optatus recounts that atCarthage a Catholic matron, named Lucilla, incurred the censures of the Church for having kissed therelics of a reputed martyr whose claims to martyrdom had not been juridically proved. And SaintCyprian (died 258) recommended that the utmost diligence be observed in investigating the claims of those who were said to have died for the faith. All the circumstances accompanying the martyrdom were to be inquired into; the faith of those who suffered, and the motives that animated them were to be rigorously examined, in order to prevent the recognition of undeserving persons. Evidence was sought from the court records of the trials or from people who had been present at the trials.
Augustine of Hippo (died 430) tells of the procedure which was followed in his day for the recognition of a martyr. The bishop of the diocese in which the martyrdom took place set up a canonical process for conducting the inquiry with the utmost severity. The acts of the process were sent either to themetropolitan orprimate, who carefully examined the cause, and, after consultation with thesuffragan bishops, declared whether the deceased was worthy of the name of "martyr" and public veneration.
Though not "canonizations" in the narrow sense, acts of formal recognition, such as the erection of analtar over the saint's tomb or transferring the saint's relics to a church, were preceded by formal inquiries into the sanctity of the person's life and the miracles attributed to that person's intercession.
Such acts of recognition of a saint were authoritative, in the strict sense, only for thediocese orecclesiastical province for which they were issued, but with the spread of the fame of a saint, were often accepted elsewhere also.
In theCatholic Church, both in theLatin and theconstituent Eastern churches, the act of canonization is reserved to theApostolic See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the candidate for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that they are worthy to be recognized as a saint. The Church's official recognition of sanctity implies that the person is now inHeaven and that they may be publicly invoked and mentioned officially in theliturgy of the Church, including in theLitany of the Saints.
In the Catholic Church, canonization is a decree that allows universal veneration of the saint. For permission to venerate merely locally, onlybeatification is needed.[10]
Procedure prior to reservation to the Apostolic See
For several centuries thebishops, or in some places only theprimates andpatriarchs,[11] could grant martyrs and confessors public ecclesiastical honor; such honor, however, was always decreed only for the local territory of which the grantors had jurisdiction. Only acceptance of thecultus by thePope made thecultus universal, because he alone can rule the universalCatholic Church.[12] Abuses, however, crept into this discipline, due as well to indiscretions of popular fervor as to the negligence of some bishops in inquiring into the lives of those whom they permitted to be honoured as saints.
In the Medieval West, theApostolic See was asked to intervene in the question of canonizations so as to ensure more authoritative decisions. The canonization ofSaint Udalric, Bishop of Augsburg byPope John XV in 993 was the first undoubted example of papal canonization of a saint from outside ofRome being declared worthy of liturgical veneration for the entire church.[13]
Thereafter, recourse to the judgment of thePope occurred more frequently. Toward the end of the 11th century, thePopes began asserting their exclusive right to authorize the veneration of a saint against the older rights of bishops to do so for their dioceses and regions. Popes therefore decreed that the virtues and miracles of persons proposed for public veneration should be examined in councils, more specifically in general councils.Pope Urban II,Pope Calixtus II, andPope Eugene III conformed to this discipline.
Hugh de Boves,Archbishop of Rouen, canonizedWalter of Pontoise, or St. Gaultier, in 1153, the final saint inWestern Europe to be canonized by an authority other than thePope:[14][15] "The last case of canonization by a metropolitan is said to have been that ofSt. Gaultier, or Gaucher, [A]bbot of Pontoise, by the Archbishop of Rouen. A decree ofPope Alexander III [in] 1170 gave the prerogative to the [P]ope thenceforth, so far as the Western Church was concerned."[14] In a decretal of 1173,Pope Alexander III reprimanded some bishops for permitting veneration of a man who was merely killed while intoxicated, prohibited veneration of the man, and most significantly decreed that "you shall not therefore presume to honor him in the future; for, even if miracles were worked through him, it is not lawful for you to venerate him as a saint without the authority of the Catholic Church."[16] Theologians disagree as to the full import of the decretal ofPope Alexander III: either a new law was instituted,[17] in which case thePope then for the first time reserved the right of beatification to himself, or an existing law was confirmed.
However, the procedure initiated by the decretal ofPope Alexander III was confirmed by abull ofPope Innocent III issued on the occasion of the canonization ofCunigunde of Luxembourg in 1200. Thebull ofPope Innocent III resulted in increasingly elaborate inquiries to theApostolic See concerning canonizations. Because the decretal ofPope Alexander III did not end all controversy and some bishops did not obey it in so far as it regarded beatification, the right of which they had certainly possessed hitherto,Pope Urban VIII issued the Apostolic letterCaelestis Hierusalem cives of 5 July 1634 that exclusively reserved to theApostolic See both its immemorial right of canonization and that ofbeatification. He further regulated both of these acts by issuing hisDecreta servanda in beatificatione et canonizatione Sanctorum on 12 March 1642.
In hisDe Servorum Dei beatificatione et de Beatorum canonizatione of five volumes the eminent canonist Prospero Lambertini (1675–1758), who later becamePope Benedict XIV, elaborated on the procedural norms ofPope Urban VIII's Apostolic letterCaelestis Hierusalem cives of 1634 andDecreta servanda in beatificatione et canonizatione Sanctorum of 1642, and on the conventional practice of the time. His work published from 1734 to 1738 governed the proceedings until 1917. The article "Beatification and canonization process in 1914" describes the procedures followed until the promulgation of theCodex of 1917. The substance ofDe Servorum Dei beatifιcatione et de Beatorum canonizatione was incorporated into theCodex Iuris Canonici (Code of Canon Law) of 1917,[18] which governed until the promulgation of the revisedCodex Iuris Canonici in 1983 byPope John Paul II. Prior to promulgation of the revisedCodex in 1983,Pope Paul VI initiated a simplification of the procedures.
TheApostolic constitutionDivinus Perfectionis Magister ofPope John Paul II of 25 January 1983[19] and the norms issued by theCongregation for the Causes of Saints on 7 February 1983 to implement the constitution in dioceses, continued the simplification of the process initiated byPope Paul VI.[19] Contrary to popular belief, the reforms did not eliminate the office of the Promoter of the Faith (Latin:Promotor Fidei), popularly known as theDevil's advocate, whose office is to question the material presented in favor of canonization. The reforms were intended to reduce the adversarial nature of the process. In November 2012Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Carmello Pellegrino as Promoter of the Faith.[20]
Candidates for canonization undergo the following process:
Servant of God (Servus Dei): The process of canonization commences at the diocesan level. Abishop with jurisdiction, usually the bishop of the place where the candidate died or is buried, although another ordinary can be given this authority, gives permission to open an investigation into the virtues of the individual in response to a petition of members of the faithful, either actually orpro forma.[21] This investigation usually commences no sooner than five years after the death of the person being investigated.[22] ThePope,qua Bishop of Rome, may also open a process and has the authority to waive the waiting period of five years, e.g., as was done forSt. Teresa of Calcutta byPope John Paul II,[23] and forLúcia Santos and forPope John Paul II himself byPope Benedict XVI.[24][25] Normally, an association to promote the cause of the candidate is instituted, an exhaustive search of the candidate's writings, speeches, and sermons is undertaken, a detailed biography is written, and eyewitness accounts are collected. When sufficient evidence has been collected, the local bishop presents the investigation of the candidate, who is titled "Servant of God" (Latin:Servus Dei), to theCongregation for the Causes of the Saints of theRoman Curia, where the cause is assigned apostulator, whose office is to collect further evidence of the life of the Servant of God. Religious orders that regularly deal with the Congregation often designate their own Postulator General. At some time, permission is then granted for the body of the Servant of God to be exhumed and examined. A certificationnon-cultus is made that no superstitious or heretical worship, or improper cult of the Servant of God or her/his tomb has emerged, and relics are taken and preserved.
Venerable (Venerabilis; abbreviated "Ven.") or "Heroic in Virtue": When sufficient evidence has been collected, the Congregation recommends to thePope that he proclaim theheroic virtue of the Servant of God; that is, that the Servant of God exercised "to a heroic degree" thetheological virtues of faith, hope, and charity and thecardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. From this time the one said to be "heroic in virtue" is entitled "Venerable" (Latin:Venerabilis). A Venerable does not yet have afeast day, permission to erect churches in their honor has not yet been granted, and the Church does not yet issue a statement on their probable or certain presence inHeaven, butprayer cards and other materials may be printed to encourage the faithful to pray for amiracle wrought by their intercession as a sign of God's will that the person be canonized.
Blessed (Beatus orBeata; abbreviated "Bl."): Beatification is a statement of the Church that it is "worthy of belief" that the Venerable is inHeaven and saved. Attaining this grade depends on whether the Venerable is amartyr:
For a martyr, thePope has only to make a declaration of martyrdom, which is a certification that the Venerable gave their life voluntarily as a witness of the Faith or in anact of heroic charity for others.
For a non-martyr, all of them being denominated "confessors" because they "confessed", i.e., bore witness to the Faith by how they lived, proof is required of the occurrence of amiracle through the intercession of the Venerable; that is, that God granted a sign that the person is enjoying thebeatific vision by performing a miracle for which the Venerable interceded. Presently, these miracles are almost always miraculous cures of infirmity, because these are the easiest to judge given the Church's evidentiary requirements for miracles; e.g., a patient was sick with an illness for which no cure was known; prayers were directed to the Venerable; the patient was cured; the cure was spontaneous, instantaneous, complete, and enduring; and physicians cannot discover any natural explanation for the cure.
The satisfaction of the applicable conditions permitsbeatification, which then bestows on the Venerable the title of "Blessed" (Latin:Beatus orBeata). Afeast day will be designated, but its observance is ordinarily only permitted for the Blessed's homediocese, to specific locations associated with them, or to the churches or houses of the Blessed's religious order if they belonged to one. Parishes may not normally be named in honor ofbeati.
Saint (Sanctus orSancta; abbreviated "St." or "S."): To be canonized as a saint, ordinarily at least two miracles must have been performed through the intercession of the Blessed after their death, but forbeati confessors, i.e.,beati who were not declared martyrs, only one miracle is required, ordinarily being additional to that upon which beatification was premised. Very rarely, a Pope may waive the requirement for a second miracle after beatification if he, theSacred College of Cardinals, and theCongregation for the Causes of Saints all agree that the Blessed lived a life of great merit proven by certain actions. This extraordinary procedure was used inPope Francis' canonization ofPope John XXIII, who convoked the first part of theSecond Vatican Council.
Canonization is a statement of the Church that the person certainly enjoys the beatific vision ofHeaven. The title of "Saint" (Latin:Sanctus orSancta) is then proper, reflecting that the saint is a refulgence of the holiness (sanctitas) of God himself, which alone comes from God's gift. The saint is assigned afeast day which may be celebrated anywhere in the universal Church, although it is not necessarily added to theGeneral Roman Calendar or local calendars as an "obligatory" feast; parish churches may be erected in their honor; and the faithful may freely celebrate and honor the saint.
Although recognition of sainthood by thePope does not directly concern a fact ofDivine revelation, nonetheless it must be "definitively held" by the faithful asinfallible pursuant to, at the least, theUniversal Magisterium of the Church, because it is a truth related to revelation by historical necessity.[26][27]
Regarding theEastern Catholic Churches, the cult of candidates for sainthood who have attained beatification in asui juris Church is restricted to that Church. Canonization removes this restriction, and the saint is then venerated in the universal Church.[28]
Popes have several times permitted to the universal Church, without executing the ordinary judicial process of canonization described above, the veneration as a saint, the "cultus" of one long venerated as such locally. This act of a Pope is denominated "equipollent" or "equivalent canonization"[29] and "confirmation ofcultus".[30] In such cases, there is no need to have a miracle attributed to the saint to allow their canonization.[29] According to the rulesPope Benedict XIV (regnat 17 August 1740 – 3 May 1758) instituted, there are three conditions for an equipollent canonization: (1) existence of an ancientcultus of the person, (2) a general and constant attestation to the virtues or martyrdom of the person by credible historians, and (3) uninterrupted fame of the person as a worker of miracles.
The majority of Protestant denominations do not formally recognize saints because some think[who?] the Bible uses the term in a way that suggests all Christians are saints[citation needed]. However, some denominations do, as shown below.
TheOrthodox Church in America, an Eastern Orthodox Church partly recognized as autocephalous, uses the term "glorification" for the official recognition of a person as a saint.[40]
^For the history of such canonization, see Kemp.[8]
^"Beatification, in the present discipline, differs from canonization in this: that the former implies (1) a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate, which is (2) a mere permission, and no precept; while canonization implies a universal precept" (Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonization".The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Accessed 27 May 2009.).
^August.,Brevic. Collat. cum Donatistis, III, 13, no. 25 inPL, XLIII, 628.
^Gonzalez Tellez,Comm. Perpet. in singulos textus libr. Decr., III, xlv, in Cap. 1,De reliquiis et vener. Sanct.
^Pope Gregory IX,Decretales, 3, "De reliquiis et veneratione sanctorum". It is alternatively quoted as follows: "For the future you will not presume to pay him reverence, as, even though miracles were worked through him, it would not allow you to revere him as a saint unless with the authority of the Roman Church". (C. 1, tit. cit., X, III, xlv.)
^"Making Saints: The Process of Canonization in the Catholic Church".The Maronite Voice. 3 January 2020. Retrieved16 August 2025.Having ascertained the martyrdom or heroic practice of the virtues or "heroic offer of life" through beatification, the Church officially raises one to the honors of the altar, but the cult given to him or her will be restricted to a Church sui iuris, a nation, region, diocese, province or a religious institute according the stipulations in the decree of beatification. Canonization removes this restraint and the saint becomes an object of veneration in the universal Church.
^"Catholic Encyclopedia: Beatification and Canonization".www.newadvent.org.Archived from the original on 16 January 2000. Retrieved24 April 2021.Those proposed as coming under the definition of cases excepted (casus excepti) by Urban VIII are treated in another way. In such cases it must be proved that an immemorial public veneration (at least for 100 years before the promulgation, in 1640, of the decrees of Urban VIII) has been paid the servant of God, whether confessor or martyr. Such cause is proposed under the title of "confirmation of veneration" (de confirmatione cultus); it is dealt with in an ordinary meeting of the Congregation of Rites.
^Mitchell, Jolyon (29 November 2012).Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 99.ISBN9780191642449.In 1660 the convocations of Canterbury and York canonized King Charles.
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