Canonization & Beatification

Questions and Answers on Catholic Saints
from St. Anthony Messenger. Answers to two questions focus on the process of making saints: Why so few lay saints? What is the process for canonizing someone?

• New Laws for the Causes of Saints - The Sacred Congregationf for the Causes of Saints, 1983
• Reform of Canonization Causes - Statements by Prefect of Congregation for the Causes of Saints
• Making the Saints of Carmel Today
• Ask a Catholic: How do people become saints?
• Catholic Encyclopedia: The Blessed
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Beatification and Canonization
• CIN - Ask Father Mateo, Beatification and Canonization
• Canonization Proces
• The road to Sainthood - by E. Weerapperuma - Online edition of Sunday Observer
• Becoming a Saint - A. The Road to Sainthood - covers the formal process in the Catholic Church for canonizing saints and B. How can we Become Saints? - which explores how we can make it to Heaven
• EWTN.com - Cause of Canonization for Early Christians
• What is beatification? - according to Catechetics India, a publication by Nitika/Don Bosco.
• Encyclopedia: Canonization of Saints - Wikipedia article
• The Canonization of Saints - By Paul Flanagan and Robert Schihl - Catholic Biblical Apologetics
• Making Saints - This article by Bill Dodds explains what the Catholic Church considers, "enough to make a saint."
• The Road to Sainthood
• What is the Process for Canonizing Someone?
• The Process of Becoming a Saint - Straight Answers By Fr. William Saunders
• Vatican Saint-Maker Tells What it Takes to Make the Cut - Interview of Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, 2001.
• When did the custom of canonizing saints start, and is it true that canonizations are infallible? Article in This Rock Magazine

Friar Jack's Catechism Quiz: Test Your Knowledge on How Saints Are Made - Answers to the following questions: How does a person become a Catholic saint? When did the first formal canonization take place?

The Process of Beatification in the Catholic Church - This page on the Web site of the the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Australia contains a good outline of the process of "making saints" in the Catholic Church. The article concisely answers the following questions: What does Beatification mean? What steps are required before Beatification? What does Canonisation mean? What are the steps to Canonisation?

St Francis of Assisi Primary School - Saints Research - An online research module for Year 6 students preparing for Confirmation. This excellent module if intended for Australian students but can be easily adapted for students internationally. Although its primary purpose is to help the students choose the saint they wish to use for their Confirmation name, it does help the children investigate what makes a person a saint.

Links for Learners: Edith Stein: Our Newest Saint - October 1998 Issue of St. Anthony Messenger Magazine Online - This classroom resource guide is intended to support curriculum in Social Studies—the Holocaust and Religion—the making of a saint; miracles. The guide provides some useful suggestions and information to help present the steps of sainthood to students.

Making of Saints - Backgrounder prepared by the Department of Communications of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops - This document offers a glossary of terms related to the process of making saint, a historical overview of saint making throughout the centuries in the Church, and a description of each of the four stages in the procedure that leads to the declaration of sainthood. This document is in PDF format.

Canonization Process - Note released by the Holy See Press Office in 1997 on canonical procedure for causes of beatification and canonization.

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