How are saints canonized?
It’s a long and lengthy process. In the earlier times, saints were proclaimed to be saints by popular devotion. They didn’t go through the process and procedures which we now have today. The bishops and the Vatican decided to finally take over authority for approving saints. In 1983, Pope John Paul II made changes in the canonization procedure. The process begins after the death of a Catholic whom people regarded as holy. The bishop then investigates the person’s life and writings for heroic virtue (or martyrdom) and orthodoxy of doctrine. Then a panel of theologians at the Vatican evaluates the person. Once the person is approved by the panel and cardinals of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the pope proclaims him/her venerable. Then there’s the step of beatification/blessed which requires a miracle to happen; because miracles are considered to be proof that the person is in Heaven and can intercede for us, the miracle must take place after the person’s death and as a result
