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Apr 27, 2014 · Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII are to be declared saints by the Catholic Church. The BBC looks at the steps required for an individual to become a saint in the eyes of the Vatican.
- Catholic Church
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- Catholic Church
The official process for declaring someone a saint is called canonization. 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.
The Path Begins: Servant of God. 2. Moving Forward: Venerable. 3. The First Miracle: Beatification and Becoming “Blessed”. 4. The Second Miracle: Canonization and Becoming a Saint. Understanding Miracles in the Canonization Process. Why the Process is So Rigorous.
- Grassroots Devotion. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints points out that it begins with a person’s “fame for holiness.” Do the faithful speak of these men and women and their exemplary lives, positive influence, apostolic fruitfulness and edifying deaths?
- Off to Rome. When everything is collected and the bishop approves, the results are sent to Rome, to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. What the diocese has gathered is placed into a formal volume called the positio — a work summarizing the evidence to demonstrate convincingly the life, heroic virtues and renown or reputation of the Servant of God.
- On to Beatification. The next step on the road to sainthood is beatification. If the candidate is a martyr for the faith, he or she is immediately made a “Blessed.”
- Another Giant Step. At this point, the cause moves toward the final step of canonization and the title of “Saint.” Necessary for this step is one additional miracle that happens after the beatification.
Anyone, even a non-Catholic, can be a saint if they possess sanctifying grace through the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. A saint is any person who resides in heaven with God.
In official Church procedures there are three steps to sainthood: a candidate becomes "Venerable," then "Blessed" and then "Saint." Venerable is the title given to a deceased person recognized formally by the pope as having lived a heroically virtuous life or offered their life.
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It got us thinking. How do you become a Catholic saint, anyway? It turns out, you just have to follow these six steps. Step 1: Die. Living people can't be saints! Step 2. Wait five years. Emotions understandably run high after someone passes away, so a waiting period is imposed to allow for an objective evaluation of a person’s life.
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