We often hear Catholics referred to as Venerable, Blessed, or Saint, but unless you have followed a particular cause for canonization, it can be difficult to know exactly what those titles mean.
What is the difference between a Venerable and a Blessed? Why are miracles required? And when does someone officially become a saint?
The Catholic Church has a careful process for investigating the life and holiness of someone being considered for canonization. It can take many years, and sometimes centuries, for an individual to be declared a saint, because the Church does not make these declarations lightly.
Understanding the process begins with an important distinction: The Church does not "make" someone a saint. God does.
What Makes a Saint?
A saint is someone who is already in heaven, whether or not the Church has ever formally recognized that person. In fact, countless saints will never be canonized or known by name on earth.
Through canonization, the Church initiates a careful investigation, then she formally recognizes and declares that a particular person is a saint who may be honored throughout the universal Church as an intercessor and example of Christian holiness.
In other words, canonization does not make someone holy, or place that person in heaven. It recognizes and confirms what God has already accomplished in and through that person's life.
How Does the Canonization Process Begin?
Ordinarily, at least five years must pass after a person's death before a cause for canonization can begin, although the pope may waive the waiting period. The delay allows time for the person's life and reputation for holiness to be considered with greater objectivity.
There have been exceptions to this five year guideline, such as Mother Teresa, Sr. Lucia Santos (of Fatima) and Pope St. John Paul II.
The "cause for sainthood" (official period of investigation) normally begins in the diocese or eparchy where the person died. A petitioner asks the bishop to begin an investigation, and a postulator is appointed to guide the cause. Once the appropriate consultations have taken place and the Holy See has indicated that there is no obstacle to proceeding, the formal investigation begins.
The candidate is then known as a Servant of God.
Servant of God: The Investigation is Opened
The title Servant of God means that a person's cause for beatification and canonization has formally begun. It does not mean that the Church has already determined that the person is a saint.
At this stage, witnesses may be interviewed, and the candidate's writings, correspondence, historical records, and other documents are collected and examined. For most causes, investigators consider whether the person practiced the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance to a heroic degree.
When the diocesan investigation is complete, the evidence is sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican for further examination.
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Venerable: A Life of Heroic Virtue is Recognized
In Rome, the evidence gathered during the investigation is studied by theologians and members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. If the cause receives a favorable judgment, it is eventually presented to the pope.
If the pope recognizes that the person lived the Christian virtues heroically, he authorizes a decree recognizing the person's heroic virtue. The Servant of God is then known as Venerable.
This is an important milestone. The Church has formally recognized the candidate's heroic virtue, but the person has not yet been beatified. The next stage ordinarily involves something that cannot be established simply by studying the person's life: a miracle.
Blessed: A Miracle is Recognized
For the beatification of someone recognized for heroic virtue, the Church ordinarily requires a miracle attributed to the person's intercession after death.
Claims of miracles are carefully investigated. When an alleged miracle involves a healing, a panel of medical experts examines the case to determine whether the recovery can be explained scientifically. Theologians then consider whether the event can properly be attributed to prayers asking for the candidate's intercession.
Once a miracle has been recognized and the pope approves the beatification, the person receives the title Blessed.
Beatification permits public veneration of the Blessed in a limited way, usually in particular dioceses, regions, nations, or religious communities associated with that person's life and ministry.
Why Does the Church Require a Miracle?
The Church requires a miracle in most causes because it is understood as a sign from God confirming the Church’s discernment.
After carefully examining a person’s life and holiness through testimony, writings, and other evidence, the Church looks to a miracle granted through that person’s intercession as further assurance that the person is united with God in heaven.
A miracle attributed to a candidate’s intercession also provides “divine confirmation” of the Church’s judgement concerning that person’s virtuous life. Reading about these miracles in books like The Miracles of the Saints is not only inspirational for us as Catholics, but a gift of our shared history.
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Do Martyrs Need a Miracle to Become Blessed?
The process is somewhat different for martyrs. When the Church formally recognizes that someone was truly martyred for the faith, a miracle is not ordinarily required for the beatification so that a candidate is declared Blessed.
A miracle of intercession is ordinarily required at the next stage, however, before a Blessed martyr can be declared a saint.
The Church also recognizes a distinct path known as the “offering of life,” established by Pope Francis in 2017. It applies when a person, moved by Christian charity, freely offers his or her life for others and accepts a certain and premature death that results from that choice.
Unlike martyrdom, it does not require that the person be killed in hatred of the faith, and a miracle is of intercession is still required for beatification.
Saint: The Final Step of Canonization
After beatification, another miracle is ordinarily required for canonization. This miracle must have occurred after beatification and be attributed to the intercession of the Blessed. It undergoes a careful investigation similar to the one required for the miracle leading to beatification.
Once the requirements have been fulfilled, the cause is presented to the Holy Father, who makes the final decision regarding canonization.
At canonization, the Blessed is formally declared a Saint, and public veneration is extended to the universal Church. Each title tells us exactly where a person's cause stands and what the Church has determined thus far.
In its simplest form, the path looks like this: Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint
Why Does the Church Investigate Saints So Carefully?
The canonization process can seem extraordinarily long, particularly when Catholics already have a strong devotion to someone they believe to be a saint. But the careful investigation reflects the seriousness of what the Church is declaring.
Canonization is not simply an award for someone who lived an admirable life. The Church is proposing that person to Catholics throughout the world as someone who is in heaven, may be invoked as a patron saint and intercessor, and whose life is worthy of imitation. That requires prudence, patience, and very careful discernment by the Church.
It also reminds us of something easily forgotten when we hear the remarkable stories of canonized saints: sainthood is not reserved for a select class of extraordinary Catholics. It is what God wants for us all.
The Saints Show Us Where We Are Going
The formal canonization process applies to the relatively small number of men and women whom the Church publicly recognizes as saints, but the call to holiness applies to every one of us. It is the goal of the spiritual life.
There are countless saints in heaven whose names will never appear on the Church's liturgical calendar. Among them, we all hope and pray, are our most beloved family members, friends, and souls who have inspired and interceded for us.
The saints the Church does canonize are given to the faithful as witnesses of what can happen when an ordinary human life is placed in the hands of God.
Behind the titles Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint are men and women who had responsibilities, struggles, weaknesses, joys and sufferings just as we do. They lived everyday lives filled with challenges and trials, and became holy through God's grace and their repeated response to it.
The Church's long and careful process ultimately recognizes what God has already accomplished in and through these souls. Then she can hold their lives before us, as a reminder of what He desires to accomplish in ours.
Read Next: Insert Link to The Beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen: Celebrating His Life, Mission & Legacy
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