beatification
What is beatification in the Roman Catholic Church?
When can the process of canonization begin after a person’s death?
What role does a miracle play in beatification?
beatification, in the Roman Catholic Church, the second of the three stages in the process of canonization to declare a holy person a saint. In beatification, the candidate for sainthood is declared “Blessed” and worthy of limited public veneration.
(Read Britannica’s article “How Does Someone Become a Saint?”)
The path to beatification and sainthood
In general, the process of documenting the sanctity of a holy person cannot begin until five years after the individual’s death, although this waiting period may be waived by the pope. Pope John Paul II, for example, waived three years off the waiting period for the cause of Mother Teresa, and Pope Benedict XVI waived the entire waiting period for his predecessor, John Paul II.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The first stage of the canonization process is the examination of the candidate’s life for evidence of the person’s holiness. This step must be initiated by the bishop of the deceased person’s local diocese, although anyone may petition the diocese to open the cause. If the cause is accepted and opened by the diocese, the person is recognized as a “Servant of God.” The potential candidate becomes “Venerable” when his or her case has been officially accepted by the Roman Curia’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (originally called the Sacred Congregation of Rites) and when a papal decree has announced the candidacy, asserting that the person had virtues of heroic degree.
The examination, or investigation, of the candidate involves the gathering together of all material pertaining to the person’s reputation for sanctity or heroic virtue, the writings of the candidate, and information about miracles performed by the person either during his or her lifetime or after death. The bishop appoints a person called the postulator of the cause to promote the cause and also appoints a promoter of the faith, commonly known as the “devil’s advocate,” to see that the entire truth is made known about the candidate. However, the role of the promoter of the faith was significantly reduced with Pope John Paul II’s reforms of the canonization process in 1983, and it has subsequently held little sway over the proceedings.
The miracle required for beatification may be waived for martyrs, people who voluntarily suffer death rather than deny their religion. However, martyrs require at least one miracle before they can be canonized as saints.
Verification of a miracle that has been attributed to the candidate, such as an inexplicable healing from a terminal illness, is the central point of the beatification stage. In this step, the church follows an investigative process similar to that of the examination of the candidate’s life. Typically, a panel of independent medical experts is consulted to determine whether there is a natural cause for the miracle. If a two-thirds majority of the panel finds no scientific basis for the miracle’s occurrence, it may be declared an authentic miracle.
After the process is completed, the pope orders the beatification, in the form of a solemn proclamation with a solemn mass. Veneration of the beatified person may then be carried on in specified localities, and the person is referred to as “Blessed.”
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
The beatified person may then continue the path to sainthood. The final stage, which culminates in canonization and granting the holy person the title “Saint,” is essentially the same as beatification. However, at least one more miracle attributed to the beatified individual’s intercession must be verified before he or she can be declared a saint.
History of the beatification process
In the early church there was no formal process for beatification or canonization. Many early saints, especially martyrs, were deemed holy solely through public acclamation, or vox populi, vox Dei (Latin: “the voice of the people is the voice of God”). Local cults developed to venerate Christian martyrs and others known for lives of remarkable virtue.
In the sixth century, however, local bishops began to intervene in the process of recognizing saints. After a request from the local community to recognize a deceased person as a saint, the bishop would review the person’s written biography, or hagiography, and decide whether to approve his or her veneration. In the 10th century the church began developing a formal process for canonization and requiring papal approval for declaring a person a saint.
Under Pope Sixtus V in the late 1500s, responsibility for beatification was assigned to the Roman Curia. The legislation of Pope Urban VIII in the 17th century, together with legislation by Pope Benedict XIV in the following century, formed the basis of the procedures for beatification and canonization found in the Code of Canon Law (promulgated in 1917). However, Pope John Paul II revised the procedures in 1983 with the apostolic constitution Divinus perfectionis Magister (Latin: “The Divine Teacher and Model of Perfection”), which essentially streamlined the process.
Historically, a candidate who had been deemed venerable was assessed according to either of two types of beatification distinguished in the 1917 Code of Canon Law: formal (or ordinary) or extraordinary (or equivalent). Formal beatification entailed four general steps: an informative process, the introduction of the cause, an apostolic process, and four definite judgments. The first of these steps was under the jurisdiction of the bishop in whose diocese the investigation took place, and the other three were directly under the jurisdiction of the Roman Curia and the pope.
In extraordinary beatification, much of the formal process was waived by the pope. This type was usually reserved for earlier religious figures whose veneration was immemorial at the time of Pope Urban VIII (1634).
In the late 1960s Pope Paul VI announced that the process of beatification would be shortened and decentralized, and he established a new congregation (administrative division) of the Curia to handle such processes. Diocesan, provincial, or regional courts would conduct the entire investigation in consultation with the Vatican. Thus, duplication of effort would be avoided, and less time would be needed to complete the process.