Who Can Be a Saint?

All of us Catholics can be saints, even canonized saints. The universal call to holiness, which is central to the Gospel (“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” Mt 5:48), is addressed to all the baptized. The Second Vatican Council proclaimed it solemnly: it taught, in substance, that all the faithful, of whatever state or condition, are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity, a holiness that makes life more humane even in earthly society. To reach that perfection, it said, each of the faithful, according to the gifts received from Christ, following in his footsteps, conforming to his image and obeying the Father’s will in everything, must strive to give themselves wholly to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor (Lumen Gentium 40; cf. 39 and 41).

Becoming a canonized saint, however, is not so easy. Under current canon law, causes of beatification and canonization go through ten steps, which I summarize here:

1. At least five years must pass after the candidate’s death before a cause can be opened. This allows a more balanced and objective assessment and lets the emotions of the moment settle. Only the Pope can waive this first requirement, for special reasons. 2. There must be a clear conviction among God’s people about the candidate’s reputation for holiness and the effectiveness of his or her intercession before the Lord. 3. The inquiry that starts the process must come from the bishop of the diocese where the person died. The group promoting the cause, which may be a diocese, a parish, a religious congregation or an association, asks the bishop, through the postulator, to open the inquiry. 4. Once the cause has been presented and the Holy See’s “nihil obstat” obtained, the diocesan bishop sets up a special diocesan tribunal. 5. This tribunal, made up of a judge, a promoter of justice and a notary, calls witnesses proposed by the postulation or by the tribunal itself to testify to concrete facts and, if possible, personal experiences of how the candidate lived the faith and practiced the Christian virtues. The witnesses are asked how the candidate lived the three theological virtues (faith, hope and charity), the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude), and the virtues proper to his or her state of life. 6. When the diocesan inquiry is over, the acts and documents go to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where the public copy is made. The postulator, who lives in Rome, prepares the “positio” under the direction of a relator of the Congregation; it is a synthesis of the documents proving that the candidate practiced the virtues to a heroic degree. 7. The “positio” is examined by nine theologians, who vote on it. If most are in favor, the cause goes to the cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation. If their verdict is favorable, the prefect passes the cause to the Pope, who, if appropriate, approves it and authorizes the decree recognizing heroic virtue, which is then read publicly and promulgated. From then on the candidate is called Venerable Servant of God. 8. The next step is the recognition of a miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession, which must have occurred after his or her death. It is usually a lasting, scientifically unexplainable cure after the sick person, or others praying for them, asked the candidate’s intercession. The miracle is studied by a commission of theologians, a medical-legal commission and finally the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation. With their approval, the Pope approves the miracle and the decree recognizing it is issued. 9. Once both decrees, on heroic virtue and on the miracle, have been promulgated, the Pope decides on beatification, which grants public veneration limited to a particular part of the Church. The candidate then receives the title of Blessed. 10. Canonization requires another miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed and occurring after the beatification, verified under the same conditions and procedures. Canonization grants public veneration throughout the universal Church and engages papal infallibility. With it, the candidate receives the title of Saint.