Abstract
Contemporary people, both Christian and non-Christian like, find the Roman Catholic process of declaring saints, known as canonization, to be both interesting and mystifying. This essay seeks to unravel the apparent mystery by providing a historical chronicle that describes the development and evolution of this process. Beginning in the Patristic Church, when persecution was normative, martyrs to the faith were exalted by local peoples and with time declared saints. Later, when martyrdoms subsided greatly, men and women who demonstrated "heroic virtue" were placed on a par with martyrs and also declared saints. By the late medieval period, after some abuses in the declaration of saints were noted, the process of canonization became more centralized in the office of the Pope. Processes to determine heroic virtue and to verify miracles, which became a necessary element to both beatification and canonization, were also developed. By the time of the early 20th century and the formalization of Canon Law in 1917, a rigorous process to declare men and women as saints was present. In the post-Vatican II era, this process has been streamlined and become more formalized through documents published by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Highlights
It would not be atypical in contemporary parlance to describe a significant friend or other person we know as a “living saint.” What do we mean by calling one a “saint?” Various responses could be given, but most agree that the term speaks in a very positive sense, and often refers to how one manifests holiness, close proximity to God, or other general qualities that society sees as attractive or desirable
The major change came on January 25, 1983 when Pope John Paul II issued the Apostolic Constitution Divinus perfectionis Magister
The process of canonization leads to the proclamation of men and women as saints who are celebrated within the liturgical life of Roman Catholicism
Summary
It would not be atypical in contemporary parlance to describe a significant friend or other person we know as a “living saint.” What do we mean by calling one a “saint?” Various responses could be given, but most agree that the term speaks in a very positive sense, and often refers to how one manifests holiness, close proximity to God, or other general qualities that society sees as attractive or desirable. Many religious traditions, but most especially Roman Catholicism, have honored people who in some way have manifested (a sense of) holiness in their lives. Buddhists venerate arahants, their bodhisttvas and for Tibetans, their lamas. Hindus revere a range of divinely human and humanly divine figures, including their personal gurus and spiritual leaders Muslims have their awliya Allah (close friends of Allah), and their revered Sufi masters. After an initial discussion of the concept of sainthood, an historical overview of the development of the canonization process will be given. This process was most recently transformed by Blessed Pope John Paul II, 2 whose long pontificate (1978-2005) produced the most beatified and canonized Servants of God of any pope in history, and, appropriately was the source of the most recent transformation (streamlining) of the canonization process
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