Sainthood
In the Roman Catholic Church, canonization is the process by which a person is declared a saint and is then included in the cannon of recognized saints. The process takes place in Rome, though dating to before the Middle Ages bishops canonized. Canonization is not required for martyrs — who are considered as saints upon death.
One of the curious aspects of John Paul's pontificate has been the large number of canonizations during his papacy, which ran from October 1978 until his death in April 2005. By February 2002, the number of new saints was 455, with 1,277 beatified (or “blessed”). John Paul canonized some controversial figures, but his criterion seemed to be their living exemplary lives of Christian courage.
Beatification is the process preceding canonization. At this stage, the candidate is declared blessed and proof of two miracles is required. Until 1983, canonization procedures were akin to trials, during which the candidate would be defended by the church against a prosecutor, whose job it was to discount all evidence in favor of canonization. In this standoff, the spirited prosecutor was called advocatus diaboli (devil's advocate) and the defender advocatus dei (god's advocate). Of late, the devil's advocate position has been eliminated.
In July 1999, Archbishop Henry D'Souza from Calcutta began the process that led to the canonization of Mother Teresa. She died due to cardiac arrest in Calcutta, India, where she had worked with the “poorest of the poor” for five decades. Due to her efforts, her Missionaries of Charity now number over 4,000 nuns and 400 brothers who run homes, clinics, and schools in over 100 countries.
Despite the removal of the devil's advocate, the “burden of proof” of the would-be saint's qualifications may be more rigorous. For now, canonization requires proof of two additional miracles — in addition to the two considered in the beatification — in order to prove that the candidate's life was exemplary. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, canonization is usually effect by a synod of bishops.
