# Can people still become Saints? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541 "2015-03-08T17:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/41 "2015-03-09T20:56:08Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In 1969, 93 saints, including St. George, St. Nicholas, and St. Christopher, had their saint’s days made optional rather than obligatory. In most cases this was because the church determined that there was insufficient evidence for their deeds or in some cases existence. St George is still pretty big: > **[Saint George in devotions, traditions and prayers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George:_Devotions,_traditions_and_prayers)** > > Saint George is one of Christianity's most popular saints, and is highly honored by both the Western and Eastern Churches. A wide range of devotions, traditions, and prayers to honor the saint have emerged throughout the centuries. He has for long been distinguished by the title of "The Great Martyr" and is one of the most popular saints to be represented in icons. Devotions to Saint George have a large following among Christians, and a large number of churches are dedicated to him worldwid Sin... \*Saint George is one of Christianity’s most popular saints, and is highly honored by both the Western and Eastern Churches.[1] \* Even St Christopher, the most doubtful: _While canonization involves the addition of the saint’s name to the Roman Martyrology, it does not necessarily involve insertion of the saint’s name also into the General Roman Calendar, which mentions only a very limited selection of canonized saints. There is a common misconception that certain saints, e.g., Saint Christopher, were “unsainted” in 1969 or that veneration of them was “suppressed”. In fact, Saint Christopher is recognized as a saint of the Catholic Church, being listed as a martyr in the Roman Martyrology under 25 July.[3] In 1969, Pope Paul VI issued the motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis. In it, he recognized that, while the written Acts of Saint Christopher are merely legendary, attestations to veneration of the martyr date from ancient times. His change in the calendar of saints included “leaving the memorial of Saint Christopher to local calendars” because of the relatively late date of its insertion into the Roman calendar.[4]_ All three of those are still mentioned as Saints in the Catholic Encyclopedia. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/42 "2015-03-09T22:26:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > All three of those are still mentioned as Saints in the Catholic Encyclopedia. I didn’t say they weren’t still considered saints, just that their saint days had been made optional. ---
**Author:** ![JimSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@JimSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimSC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/43 "2015-03-10T00:01:52Z")
IANA catholic, so pardon my confusion. If everyone in heaven is a saint, is a canonized saint something different? Or to put it another way; is the canonization process intended to show that some saints are qualified to a higher level, or is it just supposed to provide definitive proof that the person did make it to heaven? ---
**Author:** ![AveMaria02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@AveMaria02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveMaria02)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/44 "2015-03-10T00:04:09Z")
People can definitely still become saints. New saints are canonized every single year. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/45 "2015-03-10T00:04:46Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > For Protestants the Age of Miracles ceased with the Disciples. As far as I know it’s only the Roman Catholic Church which goes for this stuff and they still have the machinery for creating saints and in fact use it quite often. I guess they had to start filling the ranks up again after the demotion of hundreds of saints (like St George of dragon fame) by one of the mid-20th century Popes. 🙂 Anglican, Methodist and Lutheran Churches also recognize saints. Anglicans, at least, still canonize people. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/46 "2015-03-10T00:13:18Z")
> [@JimSC](#): > > IANA catholic, so pardon my confusion. If everyone in heaven is a saint, is a canonized saint something different? Or to put it another way; is the canonization process intended to show that some saints are qualified to a higher level, or is it just supposed to provide definitive proof that the person did make it to heaven? It’s pretty much the second thing. You may note that the word _canonization_ incorporates the word “canon.” “Canon” (more or less) means “The Roman Catholic Church has declared this to be a matter of accepted fact.” “Accepted” on faith, that is, not as a matter of definitive proof. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/47 "2015-03-10T00:16:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In 1969, 93 saints, including St. George, **St. Nicholas** , and St. Christopher, had their saint’s days made optional rather than obligatory. In most cases this was because the church determined that there was insufficient evidence for their deeds or in some cases existence. :eek: What??? The Church now questions whether there is a Santa Claus? ---
**Author:** ![Umbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Umbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/48 "2015-03-10T00:41:35Z")
> [@JimSC](#): > > IANA catholic, so pardon my confusion. If everyone in heaven is a saint, is a canonized saint something different? Or to put it another way; is the canonization process intended to show that some saints are qualified to a higher level, or is it just supposed to provide definitive proof that the person did make it to heaven? I think the recognition part just means that a person is publicly recognized as important or significant in human history, and the canonization is to provide definitive assertion that the person did make it to heaven. > [@AveMaria02](#): > > People can definitely still become saints. New saints are canonized every single year. I wouldn’t say that the process of canonization into a saint is automated, though, as your statement seems to imply. > [@Senegoid](#): > > :eek: What??? The Church now questions whether there is a Santa Claus? Although the modern popular image of Santa Claus is a plump, jolly old man in a red suit that is inspired by the original St. Nicholas, they are two separate entities. Just because something is inspired from something does not make something that something. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/49 "2015-03-10T01:10:15Z")
Satan and his angels, or indeed any angels, are not humans. They are, however, people. The two terms are not synonymous. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/50 "2015-03-10T01:27:28Z")
The canonization of saints isn’t just to state that the Church considers canonized saints as definitely being in Heaven. It’s also to provide a kind of superhero team to inspire Catholics (and non-Catholics, I suppose) to live life as the saints did, being holy before God. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/51 "2015-03-10T01:28:05Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > What seems to be a modern “innovation” is the idea of fast-tracking a declaration of sainthood due to popular demand. The sainting of Mother Teresa and John Paul II seemed to happen unusually quickly, possibly short-circuiting some of the usual steps, under immense popular pressure. Not at all; in the early days, sainthood was something that was handled more by the local bishops, archbishops and the like, not straight from Rome. Only in the papacy of Innocent III did the Pope assert the sole right to declare saints. So early on, there was a tradition where people widely thought to be saints were more or less rubber-stamped as saints by the local bishops- that’s how a lot of early Medieval saints were canonized. The modern-day fast-tracking is merely a shout-out to the prior way of doing it, while still maintaining Papal control of the process. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/52 "2015-03-10T02:59:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Popes John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized just last year.](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27172118) > > Normally it requires two miracles to be attributed to a person after their death for canonization to take place. > > The process of canonization is detailed [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonization) How do they determine miracles? Does it have to be something supernatural? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/53 "2015-03-10T03:20:48Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > How do they determine miracles? Does it have to be something supernatural? Yeah, but it’s usually a mundane miracle, like recovering from an illness after praying to the prospective saint as an intercessor. For modern saints, they set the bar pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/54 "2015-03-10T03:35:34Z")
> [@HubZilla](#): > > How do they determine miracles? Does it have to be something supernatural? It’s got to be “something that current science cannot explain”. Some miracles weren’t explainable by then-current medical science but would rate “wow, you were lucky that iron bar didn’t hit any vital organs” and a tetanus shot nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/55 "2024-07-07T21:22:14Z")
And updating this thread with the soon to be canonization of someone which very much surprised me: > **[A teen tech whiz nicknamed 'God's influencer' will become the first...](https://www.npr.org/2024/07/01/nx-s1-5024766/carlo-acutis-first-millennial-saint-pope-canonization)** > > Carlo Acutis, who died at 15 in 2006, has long been called the "patron saint of the internet." After many years, two miracles and Vatican approval, he's officially set to be canonized, likely in 2025. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/56 "2024-07-07T21:39:24Z")
Sloppy reporting, there… They list one of his major accomplishments as creating a Web page documenting Eucharistic miracles… but the article doesn’t include a link to that webpage. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/57 "2024-07-07T21:55:35Z")
“He is credited with helping homeless people and defending victims of bullying during his lifetime, and having a hand in two healing miracles after his death — the requisite number for all Catholic saints.” I want to know about “internet miracles”. Also, he spread the word about the Catholic Church via computer in the '80s? Spread it to _who?_ What areas of the world was he reaching via computer that had yet to find out about the Catholic Church? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/58 "2024-07-07T22:00:48Z")
The last bit of the article was unexpected. Is this usual practice? "Acutis’ body was exhumed in 2019 and [transferred to a shrine](https://www.ncregister.com/cna/carlo-acutis-what-did-he-die-of-and-where-is-he-buried) at the Church of St. Mary Major, the very spot where Saint Francis is said to have shed his luxurious clothing for a habit by way of renouncing his wealth. It remains on display in a glass case, wearing blue jeans, an athletic zip-up and Nike sneakers." ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/59 "2024-07-07T22:05:24Z")
Maybe not necessarily usual, but it’s not uncommon. Well, OK, most saints’ bodies on display aren’t dressed in jeans and Nikes, but you get the point. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2024, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541/60 "2024-07-07T22:09:41Z")
But his body was in the ground 12 years before they dug him back up. How much of the body under those clothes are actually _him_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-still-become-saints/714541.md?page=4)