Think you’ve got what it takes to be canonised? Here’s five steps to becoming a saint
The Catholic Church puts candidates through meticulous vetting and as well as performing miracles, you’ll need to have a spare US$1 million
The canonisation Sunday of Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated in 1980, and of Paul VI, who was pope from 1963 to 1978, is the last stage in the Vatican’s arduous process of creating saints.
The Roman Catholic Church puts candidates through meticulous vetting. In most cases the dossier must contain two “miracles”, usually scientifically inexplicable healings resulting from the candidate’s posthumous intercession in answer to prayers.
‘Reputation for sainthood’
Friends or relatives can apply posthumously for their loved one to be recognised as having a “reputation for sainthood”, which gets the ball rolling on the full sainthood application process.
This usually begins at least five years after a person’s death, although this was not the case for crowd favourites Mother Teresa and pope John Paul II for whom the timetable has been brought forward.
‘Postulator’
Once the candidate’s holy reputation is recognised, he or she becomes a “Servant of God”. A “postulator” is appointed to collect testimonies and compile all of the candidate’s writings, producing a warts-and-all curriculum vitae.
The file then goes to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, a Vatican department, where it is submitted to severe scrutiny by an official known today as the Promoter of Justice – formerly the Devil’s Advocate.