How Does the Catholic Church Declare Saints?
According to the provisions of the apostolic constitution Divinus perfectionis magister and its Normae (promulgated on 25 January and 07 February 1983 respectively), a beatification cause may be initiated by a petitioner five years after the death in fama sanctitatis (with reputation for holiness) or in odium fidei, uti fertur (presumably killed out of hatred for the faith) of one or a group of professed Catholics. This petitioner, or actor, may be an individual or, as commonly practiced, a group (e.g., a parish, a religious congregation, a diocese, an association of lay faithful, or even a civil body) duly recognized by ecclesiastical authorities whose task is to finance and promote this enterprise. However, the pope himself could waive the required five-year waiting period, as in the case of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and John Paul II. The actor must name a postulator who must be duly recognized by the bishop of the diocese where the Servant/s of God died (canonically referred to as t
