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What Is Beatification?
Beatification is the ecclesiastical act by which the Catholic Church declares that one of the faithful departed is worthy of limited public veneration and may be called “Blessed.” The declaration is a formal permission, authorized by the pope, that allows liturgical honors and prayerful invocation of the individual in specified places, communities, or dioceses rather than throughout the universal Church (Beatification and Canonization).
As a stage in the Church’s canonization process for sainthood, beatification normally follows a juridical investigation of the candidate’s life and virtues (or martyrdom) and the recognition of a miracle, almost always a healing, attributed to the candidate’s intercession. To be approved, a reported miraculous must:
- be complete, instantaneous or very rapid, and lasting
- be not explainable by current medical science, and thus ruling out natural explanations, including spontaneous remission or delayed effects of treatment
Martyrs may be beatified without a posthumous miracle. Beatification confers the title “Blessed” and precedes formal canonization, which is the definitive papal declaration authorizing universal public prayer to and veneration of a saint, although only a relatively few saints receive the honor of being listed on the Church’s universal liturgical calendar, given the great number of saints and the limitations of a 365-day, annual calendar (What Is the Difference between Saints and Blesseds?).
The doctrinal basis for beatification and canonization stems from the Church’s dogmatic teaching on the communion of saints, whom we can consequently honor and have prayerfully intercede for us because they now share in Christ’s heavenly reign (see Rev. 5:8; Heb. 12:23). Such honors are distinct from the adoration due to God alone, and the Church regulates such honors to safeguard authentic devotion (Beatification and Canonization).
What is Canonization?
Canonization is the formal act by which the pope definitively declares that a member of the faithful departed is a saint in heaven and thus can be prayerfully invoked and venerated by the universal Church. Canonization provides a universal precept of public cult (i.e., devotion to the saint) and differs from beatification, which permits veneration and prayer in more restricted ways (Beatification and Canonization).
The modern process ordinarily begins with a diocesan investigation of the candidate’s life, virtues, and reputation for holiness; it is followed by an examination of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome, a declaration of heroic virtue (Venerable), beatification (Blessed), and—after approval of a further miracle in most cases—canonization (Saint). In rare cases, canonization may also occur by “equivalent” (or “confirmation of cult”), whereby the pope extends to the universal Church the longstanding and well-attested veneration of a holy member of the faithful departed—without the full judicial process, including possibly not requiring even one miracle (Beatification and Canonization).
Historically, recognition of saints began by popular and episcopal acclaim; the present juridical procedures developed later to ensure careful examination of virtue and miracles and to regulate public devotion to the saints (Why Isn’t Noah a Saint?).