When people hear that the Catholic Church has "made" someone a saint, many Protestant friends wince. Doesn't the Bible call every believer a saint? Who gave a pope the right to decide who is in heaven? And why honor the dead instead of giving all glory to God?
Fair questions. Here is the precise answer: the Catholic Church has never claimed to make anyone holy. Only God does that. The Church does what Hebrews 11 does. She points to men and women in whom God's grace has plainly won and says, "Run the same race, toward Jesus."
Short answer: "Blessed" is the title of a person the Catholic Church has beatified: after a long investigation, the pope permits limited public veneration, usually in one diocese, region or religious community. "Saint" is the title given at canonization, when the Church declares for the whole world that the person is in heaven and may be honored everywhere. Neither step makes anyone holy. By canonizing, "the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her" and proposes the saints "as models and intercessors" (CCC 828). God makes saints. The Church recognizes His work.
Key verses on honoring the saints
- "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:1–2)
- "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)
- "Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." (Hebrews 13:7)
- "Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones." (Revelation 5:8)
- "and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." (Luke 20:38)
- "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful." (James 5:16)
Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
What Protestants Believe
Protestants do not all hold the same view. The Lutheran Augsburg Confession (1530) keeps a real place for the saints: "Of the Worship of Saints they teach that the memory of saints may be set before us, that we may follow their faith and good works, according to our calling." But it draws a hard line at asking their help: "the Scripture teaches not the invocation of saints or to ask help of saints, since it sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator, Propitiation, High Priest, and Intercessor" (Article 21).
The Reformed Westminster Confession (1646) is stricter: "Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature," and "since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone" (21.2).
A common evangelical objection adds this: in the New Testament, "saint" (Greek hagios, "holy one") is what every believer is called. St. Paul writes "to the holy ones who are [in Ephesus] faithful in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:1) and "to all the holy ones in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi" (Philippians 1:1). So, the argument goes, the Catholic Church invented a class of "super-Christians," set up a court to decide who belongs to it, demands miracles as proof, and then gives them honor that belongs to God alone.
Behind the objection is a good concern: that no one should crowd out Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church shares it completely. The question is whether honoring the saints crowds Him out, or whether Scripture itself does exactly this, for His glory.
What Catholics Actually Teach
In the widest sense, the Catholic Church agrees that every baptized Christian is a saint: St. Paul greets "all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy" (Romans 1:7). And "Saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not)" (USCCB, "Saints"). Everyone in heaven is a saint, whether or not the Church ever names him.
Canonization is narrower: a public, certain declaration about a few people, so the whole Church may imitate them and ask their prayers. As the U.S. bishops describe it (USCCB, "Saints"), the process runs in stages:
- Servant of God. "Five years must pass from the time of a candidate's death before a cause may begin" (the pope may waive this), and "The bishop of the diocese or eparchy in which the person died is responsible for beginning the investigation." A Servant of God is "a candidate for sainthood whose cause is still under investigation."
- Venerable. The evidence is gathered into a Positio, "a comprehensive summary of all documentation," which "undergoes an examination by nine theologians who vote on whether or not the candidate lived a heroic life." A Venerable is "recognized formally by the pope as having lived a heroically virtuous life." This is a judgment about virtue, not yet a declaration that he is in heaven.
- Blessed. Normally "one miracle acquired through the candidate's intercession is required," but "A miracle is not required prior to a martyr's beatification." "Once the decree on the miracle is promulgated the pope grants the beatification," which brings "the concession of limited public veneration – usually only in the diocese, eparchy, region, or religious community." That is what "Blessed" means: public honor, but local.
- Saint. Canonization "requires a second miracle after beatification," and the honor becomes universal: "Canonization allows for the public veneration of the Saint by the Universal Church."
The Catholic Encyclopedia puts the difference in one line: beatification is "a locally restricted, not a universal, permission to venerate," while canonization "implies a universal precept" ("Beatification and Canonization").
What the Catholic Church does not teach:
- That canonization makes anyone holy. "By canonizing some of the faithful ... the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors" (CCC 828). The verb is "recognizes."
- That only the canonized are in heaven. The canon is a list of examples, not a census of heaven.
- That saints are worshiped. Even their images receive "respectful veneration," not the "adoration due to God alone," because "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype" (CCC 2132; see Do Catholics Worship Statues?).
- That saints replace Christ. They intercede "through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus" (CCC 956).
It all points to Christ. Every saint is Jesus' handiwork: "For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance" (Ephesians 2:10). The Church prays to God, in words the Catechism quotes: "You are glorified in the assembly of your Holy Ones, for in crowning their merits you are crowning your own gifts" (CCC, before 2006, from the Roman Missal). The saints are Christ's masterpieces, and praising a masterpiece praises the Artist: "our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace" (CCC 957).
The Biblical Case
1. Scripture itself names heroes of faith for us to imitate
Hebrews 11 is a roll call of named believers: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab and more. Of Abel it says, "though dead, he still speaks" (Hebrews 11:4). Then the lesson: "since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses ... persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:1–2). That is what canonization does: it names particular witnesses so we can run toward Jesus as they did. The cloud does not block our view of Christ. It surrounds us while our eyes are fixed on Him.
2. The apostles commanded Christians to imitate holy people
St. Paul did not say, "Look only at Christ and never at a Christian." He said, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). Hebrews says of leaders who have finished their course: "Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7). "Consider the outcome" means judging that a finished life ended well. Canonization does this carefully and publicly, and the next verse keeps the focus: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (13:8).
3. Those who die in Christ are alive
Jesus told the Sadducees that God "is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:38). Christians have already "approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," including "the spirits of the just made perfect" (Hebrews 12:22–23). Honoring the saints is not honoring "the dead." It is love for living members of the same family, now made perfect.
4. The saints in heaven pray
Before the Lamb, the elders hold "gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones" (Revelation 5:8). The martyrs under the heavenly altar know what is happening on earth and cry out, "How long will it be, holy and true master, before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?" (Revelation 6:9–11). The saints in glory are aware, they care, and they pray. If "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful" (James 5:16) on earth, the prayer of "the just made perfect" is not weaker in heaven. (See Is Praying to Saints Biblical?)
5. God works miracles through His holy ones
God "added his testimony by signs, wonders, various acts of power" (Hebrews 2:4). "So extraordinary were the mighty deeds God accomplished at the hands of Paul that when face cloths or aprons that touched his skin were applied to the sick, their diseases left them" (Acts 19:11–12). Even after a prophet's death: "when the man came in contact with the bones of Elisha, he came back to life and got to his feet" (2 Kings 13:21). God does the miracle, and He uses it to point to a person through whom He worked. That is the logic of the miracle requirement.
6. Christ gave His Church authority to judge
Scripture does not describe a canonization process, the titles "Venerable" or "Blessed," or a pope declaring a Christian to be in heaven. The process is a later, careful development. But Scripture gives the Church authority for such judgments. Jesus gave St. Peter "the keys to the kingdom of heaven": "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). He promised the apostles the Spirit "will guide you to all truth" (John 16:13), and St. Paul calls the Church "the pillar and foundation of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). A Church that can say with authority what Christians must believe and how they must worship can also say, "This member of Christ's Body is with Him; imitate her."
Objections Answered
(a) "The Bible calls all believers saints, so the Church can't 'make' saints."
At its strongest: In the New Testament, hagios describes every Christian (Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1). Nowhere does the Bible create an elite class of canonized saints. Calling some believers "Saint So-and-so" seems to deny that every Christian is holy in Christ.
Answer: The Catholic Church affirms those verses, and she does not "make" saints. But notice that St. Paul's Christians are "called to be holy" (Romans 1:7), and the work is not yet finished: "the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). Canonization speaks of people in whom it is complete, "the spirits of the just made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23). "Holy ones" covers believers on earth and those in glory; Hebrews 11 singles out particular named believers. The Church does the same. The canonized are not a higher caste. They are proof of what Christ can do in every one of us.
(b) "Canonization is the pope deciding who is in heaven. Only God knows that."
At its strongest: Only God judges the heart. No man, not even a pope, can look into eternity and announce where a soul is. Canonization looks like a human committee presuming on God's judgment.
Answer: Agreed: only God judges. The pope decides nothing about where a soul goes; he declares what God has already done, and only after extraordinary caution. A cause cannot begin for five years. The life is investigated by the bishop and examined by theologians. Alleged miracles go to the Holy See's Medical Board of "highly specialised medical experts," which needs a qualified majority of "at least 5/7 or 4/6" before a case goes on to "the Congress of theological consulters" (Regulation of the Medical Board). The miracle itself is God's testimony, not the Church's. And the pope acts with the keys Christ gave St. Peter (Matthew 16:19), in the Church Christ promised to guide "to all truth." Protestants already make this kind of judgment when they say, with Hebrews 11, that Abraham and Moses are in God's favor.
(c) "Honoring saints steals glory from God and is worship of the dead."
At its strongest: God says, "my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols" (Isaiah 42:8). When Cornelius fell at St. Peter's feet, "Peter, however, raised him up, saying, 'Get up. I myself am also a human being'" (Acts 10:25–26). When St. John fell before an angel, he was told, "Don't! I am a fellow servant of yours ... Worship God" (Revelation 19:10). The Law forbids anyone who "consults ghosts and spirits, or seeks oracles from the dead" (Deuteronomy 18:11). Statues, feast days and prayers look like worship.
Answer: Every one of those verses forbids worship of creatures, and so does the Catholic Church: the honor she gives the saints and their images is "respectful veneration," not the "adoration due to God alone" (CCC 2132). But Scripture also commands honor that is not worship: "imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7); "if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy" (1 Corinthians 12:26). Deuteronomy 18 condemns necromancy, summoning the dead for secret knowledge. Asking a saint to pray is the opposite: we summon no one; we ask a brother to do what Christians always do, bring our needs to God (1 Timothy 2:1). And the saints are not "the dead," "for to him all are alive" (Luke 20:38).
As for glory, the saint has none of his own: "in crowning their merits you are crowning your own gifts." God gives His glory to no idol, but He shares His life with His children and is glorified in them. The Augsburg Confession rightly sets the saints' "memory" before us; the Catholic Church simply also takes St. James and Revelation at their word that the saints pray. (On the one Mediator, see Does 1 Timothy 2:5 Say There Is Only One Mediator?)
(d) "Requiring miracles for canonization is superstition."
At its strongest: Jesus said, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign" (Matthew 12:39). Faith should rest on Scripture, not reports of healings. Many medieval "miracles" were legends or misread natural events.
Answer: Jesus rebuked those who demanded signs as a condition for believing in Him after they had already seen His works. He did not rebuke miracles; He worked them, and God "added his testimony by signs" (Hebrews 2:4). The Church does not ask anyone to believe the Gospel because of a canonization miracle. She asks for one as a further check, so that her judgment does not rest on human opinion alone. Nor is she credulous: alleged cures go to "highly specialised medical experts" (Regulation of the Medical Board); a miracle must be "scientifically inexplicable" and "must be proven through the appropriate canonical investigation" (USCCB). Scripture shows God working through Elisha's bones and St. Paul's cloths. To deny that He still does such things is not caution; it is a smaller God than the Bible's.
The Early Church Agrees
Formal canonization developed slowly. At first the decision "lay originally with the bishop of the place in which he had borne his testimony," and a martyr's veneration "passed from one church to another with the permission of their bishops" (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Beatification and Canonization"). St. Ulrich of Augsburg is "the first person known to have been canonized by a pope" (Britannica): "in 993, he was canonized by John XV" (Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Ulric"). Later popes reserved the judgment to the Holy See, Pope Urban VIII in 1634 including beatification. The process grew; the faith behind it did not.
- The Church of Smyrna, Martyrdom of Polycarp (c. AD 155–160). St. Polycarp's enemies tried to keep his body from the Christians, "lest," they said, "forsaking Him that was crucified, they begin to worship this one." The Church replied that "it is neither possible for us ever to forsake Christ ... nor to worship any other": "For Him indeed, as being the Son of God, we adore; but the martyrs, as disciples and followers of the Lord, we worthily love on account of their extraordinary affection towards their own King and Master" (ch. 17). They kept his bones "as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels" and planned "to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom" (ch. 18). The Catechism renders the line: "We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators" (CCC 957). The charge "you worship the dead" is over 1,850 years old, and so is the Catholic answer.
- St. Cyprian of Carthage (Epistle 36 [ANF numbering], c. AD 250), to his clergy during persecution: "Finally, also, take note of their days on which they depart, that we may celebrate their commemoration among the memorials of the martyrs" (ch. 2). A bishop recording holy deaths so the Church can honor them: the seed of every calendar of saints.
- St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lecture 23.9, the fifth Mystagogical Catechesis, c. AD 350; some scholars assign the mystagogical lectures to his successor, John of Jerusalem), on the Eucharistic liturgy: "Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition" (newadvent.org).
- St. Augustine of Hippo (Reply to Faustus 20.21, c. AD 400): "It is true that Christians pay religious honor to the memory of the martyrs, both to excite us to imitate them and to obtain a share in their merits," along with "the assistance of their prayers." But "we build altars not to any martyr, but to the God of martyrs," and "What is properly divine worship, which the Greeks call latria ... we give only to God" (newadvent.org). In City of God 8.27 (c. AD 415): "we do not build temples, and ordain priests, rites, and sacrifices for these same martyrs; for they are not our gods, but their God is our God" (ccel.org). Their "merits," as the Church's prayer drawn from Augustine says, are God's own gifts crowned.
- St. Jerome (Against Vigilantius, c. AD 406), answering the priest Vigilantius, who called the honoring of the martyrs' relics "all but a heathen ceremony introduced into the churches" (ch. 4): "who in the world ever adored the martyrs? Who ever thought man was God?" (ch. 5). Pagan rites honored idols, "and therefore the ceremony is to be abhorred; in the other the martyrs are venerated, and the same ceremony is therefore to be allowed" (ch. 7).
From Smyrna to Hippo the pattern is the same: Christians honored the martyrs, kept their anniversaries, treasured their relics, asked their prayers, and worshiped God alone. Papal canonization is a later safeguard around a practice as old as the martyrs.
Conclusion
"Blessed" means the Catholic Church, after long investigation, permits public honor of a person in a limited place. "Saint," in the canonized sense, means she declares for the whole world that the person is with God. Neither title makes anyone holy. Christ does that; the Church recognizes His finished work, as Hebrews 11 recognizes Abraham and Moses. The saints are alive to God, they pray, and they run ahead of us with their eyes on Jesus. The earliest Christians said it plainly: we adore Christ, and we love the martyrs as His disciples.
Come home. The great cloud of witnesses cheering you on toward Jesus belongs to one family, and that family is the Catholic Church. Christ did not found many churches. He founded one, on St. Peter and the apostles (Matthew 16:18), and that Church is the Catholic Church. "It is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained" (CCC 816). If you are a baptized Christian, you already share "a certain, although imperfect, communion" with her (CCC 838). Every truth you already hold is a call to the rest of the way. Christ is calling you into the Catholic Church.
Your next step: Come to Mass this Sunday at your local Catholic church. You can find one near you at MassTimes.org. Everyone is welcome; if you're not yet Catholic, pray with us but don't receive Communion yet. When you're ready to become Catholic, call the parish office and ask about OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. They will walk you through every step. Read our guide: How Do I Become Catholic? Not ready yet? Get our free pocket guide below and keep learning.
FAQ
What is the difference between "Blessed" and "Saint"? A Blessed has been beatified: the pope permits "limited public veneration," usually in one diocese, region or religious community. A Saint has been canonized and may be venerated "by the Universal Church" (USCCB). Normally one approved miracle is required for beatification (none for a martyr) and another after beatification for canonization.
Are there saints in heaven who were never canonized? Yes, countless. "Saints are persons in heaven (officially canonized or not)" (USCCB). The Church honors them all on All Saints' Day.
Who was the first saint canonized by a pope? St. Ulrich of Augsburg, canonized by Pope John XV in 993, is the first known (Britannica; Catholic Encyclopedia). Before that, saints were honored with the approval of their local bishops, as St. Polycarp was in Smyrna.
Sources
Scripture (NABRE, bible.usccb.org): Deuteronomy 18:10–11; 2 Kings 13:21; Isaiah 42:8; Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:18–19; Luke 20:38; John 16:13; Acts 10:25–26; Acts 19:11–12; Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Corinthians 12:26; Ephesians 1:1; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 1:1, 6; 1 Timothy 2:1; 1 Timothy 3:15; Hebrews 2:4; Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 12:1–2, 22–23; Hebrews 13:7–8; James 5:16; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 6:9–11; Revelation 19:10.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va): 816, 828, 838; 956, 957; introduction to 2006 (Roman Missal, Preface of Saints I); 2132.
Church documents and process: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Saints" (canonization process and glossary); Holy See Press Office, "Regulation of the Medical Board of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints".
Church Fathers: Martyrdom of Polycarp 17–18; Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 36.2; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 23.9; Augustine, Reply to Faustus 20.21; Augustine, City of God 8.27 (NPNF, ccel.org); Jerome, Against Vigilantius 5, 7.
History: Catholic Encyclopedia, "Beatification and Canonization" (1907); Catholic Encyclopedia, "St. Ulric" (1912); Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Saint Ulrich".
Protestant sources: Augsburg Confession (1530), Article 21, "Of the Worship of the Saints"; Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), 21.2.